Fear and Loathing In . . . Everywhere (Part 2)

It seems as if there is a need to revisit this topic; somehow I was naive enough to think that if I blogged about it, I'd suddenly stop being afraid.

Nope, I'm still afraid, especially in light of everything happening in our country this week.  I feel as if we're hurtling faster and faster into the time that - at least in some circles - is popularly called The Tribulation.  Of course, the writers of the Bible were no strangers to tribulation.  David, in Psalm 2, writes, "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.  'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters'" (2:1-3).

Habakkuk writes, "How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.  Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.  The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted" (1:2-4).

Malachi writes, "You have wearied the Lord with your words.  'How have we wearied him?' you ask.  By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them' or 'Where is the God of justice?'" (2:17).

In 2 Timothy, Paul writes, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (4:3-4).

Even Jesus remarked, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).

But you know what?  In all of these instances - every single one of them - God is in control.  In Psalm 2, "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them."  And "He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill'" (Psalm 2:4-6).

In Habakkuk, God responds, "The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him" (2:20).

In Malachi, He says, "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.  Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to this temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come" (3:1).

In 2 Timothy, Paul goes on to explain, "The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it.  And I was delivered from the lion's mouth" (2 Timothy 4:17).

In Luke, after Jesus has been crucified and then come back to life, He says, "This is what is written:  The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations" (Luke 24:46-47).

You see, ultimately, our hope is in Jesus as Judge and King:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him Who was seated on it.  Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I hear a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look!  God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 20:11 - 21:4).

See, I keep hearing and seeing people proclaim the greatness of certain politicians, certain parties, and certain news stations.  We've become polarized in our thinking, convinced that "our side" can fix everything.

One man says, "I only watch CNN!  Fox is nothing but a bunch of liars!" Another retorts, "Fox is the only honest news station out there!" Some proclaim, "Rand Paul will fix everything!" Others believe that only Bernie Sanders can make America great again.

I'm not trying to go all conspiracy theory on you here, but take a look at this short video.

Hopefully, you noticed that the "scripted" clips included CNN, ABC and affiliates . . . and even Fox.  During his term as President, George W. Bush admitted that the government was churning out "propaganda" stories and distributing them to every major news network.  We are being played.  My point, though, is not political, rather, it is that we cannot trust our government to fix human nature . . . only Jesus can do that.  And only Jesus will.

So, yes, I am afraid.  I'm afraid of the coming collapse of America (because, honestly, who can't see that coming?).  I'm afraid of the lengths to which these self-serving maniacs in power will go to in order to secure their wealth.  But I also know that at the end of time, Jesus will come to make all things right.  And my prayer, my honest prayer, is becoming less and less, "Lord, let the right person win the next election!" and more and more, "Lord, change hearts and bring people to You!"