Finding the way to GOD's Peace

Friday, 1 July 2016
faith-and-prayer.blogspot.com
Deborah Martin, work2gather.us



It is hard to be Christian in the face of evil.

 

 

Today starts another month !!  As each month passes, I am reminded of how quickly time passes by, and how little I have left.  I would like to use my remaining time to do as much as I can toward the goals GOD has put in my heart to work toward, especially Working Together.

This understanding of GOD's Will in my small life is a challenge I face each day.  I wonder why the past happened and what the future will be.  How much of our pain is a consequence of previous bad choices we have made, how much comes from the sin of others, and how much is a message from GOD to direct our course?  The inability to change some of the parts of our lives makes us dependent on GOD for the details we have to live with (against our chosen will).  My quest is to know what I need to do -- today, and tomorrow, and the days after that.  With a focus on the End Times, I want to prepare myself for the unknown challenges that lie ahead.

For me, it is hard to imagine living in a country that was once free, good, and powerful and have to watch as it disintegrates morally, financially, and spiritually.  The Bible tells us the End Times will be like the days of Noah.  (verses 37-38)  The story of Noah (Genesis 6) tells us that he was the only righteous man of his time.  What would our world be like with just one righteous man?  As I was reading these Bible sections to write this post, I was reminded that all those people who filled the earth in Noah's time were unsaved.  The Bible tells us they were corrupt, violent, wicked, evil continually.  It is beyond my comprehension what it would be like to live in a place like that, but we are on our way there.  I hope I am long gone before it gets to that point.

We hate the crime and violence we already have to deal with... and GOD's good people are still plentiful.  How will Christians continue to exist in the middle of this increasing violence and persecution?  We seem to think that creating a law will make the struggle go away.  It won't.  The Bible warns us the changing of laws (verse 25) will be part of the End Time process.

I don't do very well in suffering.  I have had to endure a lot of terrible things in my life, but that doesn't mean they were easy for me, or that I suffered them well.  I did what I could, what I had to do to survive them at the time.  After I committed my life to the path of GOD, I endured suffering with prayer and a daily act of trust in where GOD was taking me through them.  I don't want to suffer any more than I already have.

I need to find my sense of peace again...

 about GOD

 and LIFE

 and SUFFERING

I have been watching Facebook posts from the Corrie ten Boom page go by on my timeline.  They make me think about how terrible it was to endure the actions of the Nazis against the Jews.  It is the only effort at global genocide I know of.  With the advances we are experiencing in technology, the reach and persecutions of the Antichrist (and his followers) will be far worse.  I'm not sure how well any of us will do when this "war" begins to live in America.  The path of least resistance will lead to the possibility of comfort today, but the path of faith leads to eternal comfort.

I want to remind myself of the things I know from the Bible. 
I want to keep my focus on GOD.
I want to keep my faith in His Word.
I want to keep my life on the narrow path to heaven.
I want to make sure I am making the right choices. 
I want to be ready for the future. 

 I know there is a large group in the Body of Christ who believe the pre-Tribulation rapture will keep them from this suffering.  I haven't found any guarantees that interpretation of the Bible is the correct one.  We may all have to pass through the days of the Antichrist and his Mark of the Beast, dying because of our faith in GOD, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. 

I hope I am able to die with some level of spiritual dignity.  Preparing my heart and life for it helps me to think I will.