This past year has been a year of escalation in violent storms. In fact, records show that the number of thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes, has been rising rapidly for the last 30 years in this country. There were about 60 natural disasters worldwide in 1980, compared to 247 events last year — a record. (Source: The New York Times “Climatewire”).
Didn’t Jesus say they would increase in frequency and intensity like birth pains? Yes, He did!
Not long ago, the Lord gave me three instructions for the Revelation Days that we are in right now. I believe they are for others as well.
First, He said to “be prepared.”
Jim and I talk a lot about preparedness on the show. We know that preparation is essential for us and we are trying to help others get prepared as well. While we can only do our best, we understand that God is in control. However, we do not use that as an excuse to avoid doing what we can to survive. We will be as prepared as possible, while we trust God that His grace is sufficient for us. We hope you will too.
The second instruction was “weather the storms.”
There’s a lot packed into that little statement. While we can all get a good word picture from a ship tossed about on violent seas, weathering spiritual storms are just as important in these last days, and probably more so.
Have you noticed that the world is getting meaner, tougher, more violent, and just plain harsh? It seems the culture of every continent is eroding with wave after wave of hate-filled human activity. Movies, music and video games have degenerated into cesspools of violence and death. Systematic desensitization to death and violence has been a major strategy of the evil one to corrupt the minds and spirits of our children.
We truly are entering a time that the Bible refers to in 2 Tim 3:1-5 (KJV): “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
It’s going to take a lot of God within us in the Last Days to keep our hearts and minds right when all manner of evil may be unleashed towards God’s people. “Weathering the Storms” will most certainly mean weathering natural storms for which we can prepare by storing food and other essentials.
But, weathering the storms caused by an environment of wickedness can only be done by storing the Word of God within us. The Word of God is the only thing that will cleanse your spirit and keep your heart and mind pure… especially when evil comes at you from every direction.
In the scripture we often use regarding orphans and widows, it would do us well to read all the way to end: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27 NIV
The third thing the Lord spoke to me was to be ready to “clean up after the storm.”
When the Spring storms hit the middle of our nation, the devastation was so overwhelming that many people lost heart with the sheer immensity of it all. There was loss of life and property and the areas where the storms hit were beaten and bruised beyond description. The only way anything could be accomplished in the clean-up effort was a little at a time.
I watched as Jim and our teams went out to deliver food, water and other supplies to hurting people everywhere. Relief comes when someone provides supplies and extends a hand to help and does whatever is needed. The very beginning of restoration is cleanup.
Again, in the Last Days we need to be ready to minister to hurting people. The Bible says that the Last Days is the “Harvestime.” That means there will be a great harvest of souls coming into the Kingdom. We need to be ready to help people when devastation hits, because they are not going to listen to you about your God if you can’t bring some kind of relief to them.
What we do from now on is critical and has eternal significance. The Lord of Glory is about to return to set things in order, and we need to be looking for Him and listening to His Voice. “Be prepared, weather the storms, and then clean up after the storms.” That’s my instruction and I know there is love, care and concern from our Loving God in every word. I hope you can receive them, too.