Navigating These Dark Times

“They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.” (Psalm 107:26-27)

Does the world right now feel like the dark, stormy sea pictured above?

And do you sometimes feel like you're in that small boat, hanging on for dear life? 

Do things in this rapidly decaying, wicked culture feel like they are spinning out of control?

I heard a pastor-type recently say that things are this bad in  America because, "We allowed it to happen!"

Well sir, I didn't allow it happen!

I didn't vote for the corrupt, liberal politicians who have all but kicked God out of our government, schools and nation.  I didn't give a small majority of five unelected lawyers in black robes my okay to rule the way they did on perhaps the most controversial and important issue of our day.  I didn't give public schools my permission to allow confused children to use opposite sex bathrooms just because little Billy believes he is really a girl.

Today even the word "love" has been perverted.

No sir, I didn't allow any of these things to happen.

But God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed these things to happen.

Why?

Because God—who is the only Judge—has, for now, given this world of men, the moral agency of free will. And one day, probably sooner than you think, He will come down here and judge the world in His righteousness, according to His standards of perfection.

One day, all men and women will have to stand before God, and give an account of themselves to Him. The "books will be opened."

"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books." (Revelation 20:12)

One day God will come down and set all things right. 

He will put all wickedness, perversion, corruption, and injustice under His feet. And He will not be asking the Supreme Court justices for their ruling on His judgments. He will not ask the ACLU for their opinion on anything. He will not allow the wicked culture of this planet to sway His views. He will not be "politically correct."

The other day I read this quote:

"The question is not Why would a loving God send people to Hell. The question is Why would people choose Hell over a loving God?"

People will surely scoff at this, but the reality is, God doesn't send people to Hell, they send themselves there. And they do so by rejecting Christ and what He did for all people, by going to the Cross to die for our sins. 

Jesus said:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)

The laws will no doubt eventually be changing, and faithful Christian people who do as Jesus did, preaching the Gospel and repentance from sin, will be accused, tried and convicted of "hate crimes." Violent persecution, never before experienced in America, will likely become common place.

Mega churches of five to twenty thousand people, complete with luxurious coffee shops and jumbo TV screens, may become empty shells in the near future.  We here in America may soon be meeting 'illegally' in small house churches, the way our Christian brothers and sisters currently do in Communist China.

Don't think it can't happen here.

I don't think anyone can argue that the Last Days "perilous times" that the apostle Paul wrote of, are fast upon us.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." (2 Timothy 3:3-5)

Most people in today's twisted culture seem to despise what is right, pure and good. They call evil good, and good, evil. 

So how do we navigate these dark times?

By remaining steadfast in Christ. Steadfast in the Truth of His Word. And steadfast in His Love.

But we must change from being people who merely talk the right Christian talk, and then forsake Christ in our walk.

My heart's desire is that my life, walk, thoughts, speech, and actions will align with God's Word. With His will. Not in a legalistic way... But as an expression of my thankfulness and love to Jesus.

Friends, we can't talk about the wonders of God's grace, and then knowingly use it as a cloak to hide behind with the intent of justifying our sin. If you are practicing and living in any kind of ongoing sexual immorality, thinking you will escape God's judgment...please, think again. 

Jesus said He came to call sinners to repentance. And if you haven't confessed and turned from your sexual immorality, (or any other sin), you are not under His grace. Without repentance, there is no salvation.

This is the solemn warning Jesus gives to all who refuse to turn from their sinful ways:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:21-23)

You can't be salt and light to a lost world if you're living like a lost soul yourself. You have absolutely nothing to offer them.

If you are struggling, having doubts, or are troubled and at your wits end, there is only one thing you can do: 

“Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven.” (Psalm 107:28-30)

The early church in the days following Jesus' death and resurrection, gathered in homes, praying for one another, and that the Word of God and the Gospel would have free course in their land. That souls would be saved. That God would be glorified in and through simple men and women; peasants, tent makers, farmers and fishermen. That He would empower them by His Spirit and use them for His purpose wherever they lived and worked. That His love would touch every lost heart and soul. And that all people would come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Wherever God has placed you, He wants to use you.

Will you let Him?


For more on sharing the Gospel, please see:
http://marriage-miracles.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-bridge.html

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.