In my post about the seed and the soil of your heart, I shared some interesting trivia about sunflowers, including that the flowers track the sun as the earth moves across the sky in the daytime and that mature sunflowers remain facing the east. I shared that even as sunflowers follow the sun and the light, may you and I as believers follow the Son and the Light, Jesus. But what does it mean to follow His Light and walk in it?
All you have to do is read today’s news headlines to know that we are truly living in the end times. Jesus is at the door, coming soon. Biblical prophecy is coming to pass before our eyes.
Image source: http://godsheart-heart2heart.blogspot.com/2016/05/this-is-second-coming-of-jesus-christ.html
We are seeing what the prophet Isaiah foretold in chapter 60, “the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people.” Evil is increasing, and legions of demonic forces are being unleashed against God’s people as never before, because Satan knows his time is very short.
- There is no guarantee that if you and your spouse are Christians (or your spouse professes to be one) that your marriage will stay intact. The rate of divorce among Christians is nearly the same as that of the rate of divorce among non-believers;
- There is no guarantee that if you as a believer raised your children in a Christian home, that they will follow Christ after they leave home. There are many heart-broken Christian parents of prodigal children today;
- In over 1/3 of marriages, one or both partners admitted to cheating (https://www.trustify.info/blog/infidelity-statistics-2017);
- 57% of pastors and 64% of youth pastors admit they have struggled with pornography, either currently or in the past (https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/january/how-pastors-struggle-porn-phenomenon-josh-mcdowell-barna.html);
- In America’s urban centers, 3,081 people were murdered in the first half of 2017, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association Violent Crimes Survey. That’s up from 2,994 people for the same period in 2016.(https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/);
- 2,091 people in 2018 were killed from texting while driving and 11,807 died from drunk driving as of this post (http://www.romans322.com/daily-death-rate-statistics.php);
- One in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 18 years old (https://www.d2l.org/the-issue/statistics/);
- CNN reports 20 school shootings so far in 2018 (https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/index.html);
- There have been 25,621 fatalities from terrorist attacks world-wide so far. (https://www.statista.com/topics/2267/terrorism/).
These frightening news stories are enough to make you give up hope and want to just go home to heaven.
You may feel despair that God can intervene in the above situations and that things (or people) can ever change. You may feel discouraged, depressed, angry, worried, confused, stressed out, or overwhelmed.
You don’t understand what is going on or why things are happening the way they are. You may feel what is the use of even being a Christian? You may think what good does it do and are you even making any difference and impact at all in your children’s and other loved one’s lives? Life can seem like a nightmare and happiness may elude you.
You may wonder about your purpose and why you are here on Earth.
You may feel things are just too dangerous today and feel afraid. The world is no longer safe. It’s hard to follow the Light when all seems dark around you.
If you are like me as a parent, you fear for your children and your grandchildren in this dark world, and want to constantly keep them close to you…or just go to Heaven. But the safest place to be is in the loving hands and the will of God.
We must not have an escapist mentality. We must remember that we are more than a conqueror through faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:37)
The light in us (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the darkness surrounding us.
“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”–1 John 4:4
We must remember that as we see all these scary things happening and the spiritual darkness becoming even darker, to look up at the Light of Christ and be encouraged with hope that our redemption draws near.
“But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”–Luke 21:28, New Heart English Bible
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