There’s
a difference between experiencing the peripheral effects of a storm, and
actually experiencing its effects in earnest and the actual heart of it. The
outer storm of trial and God’s judgment has arrived, but what the world is
experiencing at the moment is just that; the first touches of what is to be an
absolute monster of a storm that will rock the entire world. This is a storm
the Lord has repeatedly shown me in dreams and visions throughout the years.
About a month or so ago I felt that by the Spirit this ‘monster storm’ had
arrived, and I posted about it on my blog and online. We have already begun to
experience the peripheral effects of it. This has been seen in various ways,
though few in Christendom want to acknowledge it. Its arrival has been obvious
during the last year by the worldwide avalanche of immorality and its
institionalisation, terrorism (especially through historic mass immigration
into most of Europe), economic and governmental instabilities and upheavals,
natural disasters, a resurgent Russia and China, and increasingly strong North
Korea. But knowing it’s coming isn’t enough; we need to be prepared for it.
This being the case, I’ll be continuing the Coming Storm Prep articles I started
writing about a year ago now. The one below is Part 5: Brace Yourself.
In one
sense writing like this, at least to myself, seems a little redundant now. The
arrival of the storm has already made itself obvious, yet we're still on the
outskirts of it--the big stuff is still to come. Just over a week or so ago,
the song 'It's the end of the world as we know it' started playing through my
head. The Lord often speaks to me through prophetic songs, and this one has
taken on a whole new meaning recently, especially living in America for the
last few months. Many now believe we've entered a new time of prosperity and
peace, and perhaps, for the short term at least, we have. Regardless, the long
term future hasn't changed, and my personal feeling is that recent events have
actually sped up and solidified the reality of what's coming. In the last few
months the Lord has shown me the Red Horse of Revelation once again, and
continued to reiterate the need for His people to enter the Ark of His
protection--to remain abiding in Him. This article below, including its title,
has stayed with me for a few months now. It hasn't left me. Precious Bride of
Christ, the Word of the Lord to us for what's about to happen is summed up in these
two words: BRACE YOURSELF
There’s
a massive difference between a Christian who braces themselves for approaching
tribulation, and one who doesn’t. We see this in the starkly different ways Job
and his wife reacted to the suffering God allowed to come upon them:
Job 2:9
His wife said to him, "Are you still maintaining your integrity?
Curse God and die!"
But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.
Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all
this Job did not sin with his lips.
These scriptures
reveal an obvious truth: Job was ready for tribulation, but his wife was not. People
like to be exasperated and condemnatory towards Job’s wife, and even joke or
completely write her off when they read her response. Yes, her words were awful
and wrong, and we can’t excuse them, but we also need to consider something,
which is this: if the tribulation that ended up rocking them had been tough,
but ‘do-able’ so to speak, and nothing as horrific as it actually had been,
it’s unlikely Job’s wife would’ve ever said such a thing, or anything close to
it. But that’s the thing, the trial wasn’t just ‘bad’, it wasn’t just ‘hard’,
‘uncomfortable’, ‘irritating’, or even just pretty painful or fairly distressing.
It wasn’t even ‘really rough’, it was completely and overwhelmingly agonising
and heart-wrenching. It was life-altering tragedy after life-altering tragedy,
and even that is putting it somewhat mildly. What came upon Job and his wife
was so horrific it overcame and tortured every inch of their inner man in a
vortex of life-crushing pain, and not just in a single moment or event. Their
suffering lasted months (if his wife even stayed with Job. Pause for a minute. Really
think about that and digest it. We condemn Job’s wife, mock, and write her off,
but consider this: how would we have faired? How would we have responded to
those around us or the Lord Himself if we had experienced Job’s sufferings? We
probably already know, because we always know how we’ve faired under trials
much, much easier then he faced.
On one level at
least, nothing can prepare us for the great trials that lay ahead. In one sense
they will be unprecedented, just like they were for Job. How does anyone
prepare for trial after trial? And devastating/world altering trials at that?
We’re all human, and what’s coming will all hit us all like a ton of bricks.
But it’s clear that Job expected to see tragedy from the Lord, and that helped
him guide his brokenness and overwhelming emotion in the right way:
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell
to the ground in worship
-Job 1:20
This is one
major reason the Lord reveals difficult prophetic events of the future because
He wants us to be ready for them:
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil
comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand.
-Ephesians 6:13
Being ready for
what’s coming will mean we’ll arm ourselves with a soldier’s mentality, rather
than a victim’s one, knowing that all things work together for good for those
who love the Lord (Rom 8:28). This is how Paul encouraged Timothy:
Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
-2 Timothy 2v3
Knowing what is coming will help us to envision how to continue through
the suffering and endure it. This we’ll be able to do by looking at the example
of those in the Bible who endured great suffering. The Lord will also give us
the hope of its end and the result He intends to bring about at its conclusion:
10Brothers, as an example of patience in
affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11See how blessed we
consider those who
have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
-James 5:10-11
If we don’t expect the great severity of the coming storm, like with
Job’s wife, our perplexity, pain, emotion, and natural ‘unanswered questions’
will lead to faithlessness and a rejection of the Lord and His ways. We must
also remember this: none of us deserve anything; not one single thing. All we
have is by the grace, mercy, and undeserved favour of God. Even the very air we
breathe is a gift of God, and if the Lord deems it best to take, not only a few
things, but EVERYTHING from us, including OUR VERY LIVES (and/or the lives of
those we love) for our eternal state and His own purposes, then we must accept
it, just as Job did:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of
it.
-1 Timothy 6:7
This will be a continual battle of faith (a ‘fighting the good fight of
faith’) and a daily sacrifice and death, but it will all be worth it in the
end, whether we witness this in the present life or the one to come:
17 Now if we are
children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we
share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that
our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be
revealed in us.
-Romans 8v17-18
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