Dear Brethren and Friends, With the beginning surge of end-time prophetic events—which often involve stress and suffering—many of God’s own people sometimes feel discouraged and disillusioned. Some are let down. They sometimes become “weary with well doing.” Some even give up, and fall completely away from God and His way. This should not surprise us. For all of us are human!
Yet, we in the Living Church of God need to truly understand and respond to the powerful encouragement that God makes available. Jesus Christ Himself described the coming frightful events that will test men’s souls. After describing the coming wave of false prophets, wars, disease epidemics and great earthquakes, Jesus continued, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25–26). So millions will be genuinely scared to death as these final events get underway.
But we in God’s Church are not to lose heart. For our Savior and our living Head instructs us, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (v. 28).
Dear brethren, we in God’s true Church absolutely must have a vital, ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ and with the Father. They must be very real to us through our constant study of the Bible, our practice of meditating for hours on the teachings of the Bible and the examples of the great men and women of God. Through fervent prayer we must focus our minds on the reality of Almighty God and His supreme purpose for our lives. We must daily drink in of God’s Holy Spirit. As God’s word tells us, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
We must use the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to get rid of what the Apostle Paul called the “spirit of fear.” For God’s Spirit gives us power and love and a sound mind. We must train ourselves to banish negative thoughts. We must emphasize the positive.
In his wonderful book, None of These Diseases, S. I. McMillen, M.D. writes some very inspiring words. After describing the peace of mind maintained by William Gladstone, one of the greatest Prime Ministers in the entire history of Britain, Dr. McMillen continues with these words:
“William Ewart Gladstone, on being questioned for the secret of the unusual serenity he was able to maintain in spite of situational stresses, replied, ‘At the foot of my bed, where I can see it on retiring and on arising in the morning, are the words, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.’
Some psychiatrists have given far more than superficial help in the medical textbooks they have written for physicians. William Sadler advises physicians how to get at the cause of people’s troubles:
‘Prayer is a powerful and effectual worry-remover. Men and women who have learned to pray with childlike sincerity, literally talking to, and communicating with the Heavenly Father, are in possession of the great secret whereby they can cast their care upon God, knowing that He careth for us. A clear conscience is a great step toward barricading the mind against neuroticism.
Many are victims of fear and worry because they fail properly to maintain their spiritual nutrition…. The majority of people liberally feed their bodies, and many make generous provision for their mental nourishment; but the vast majority leave the soul to starve, paying very little attention to their spiritual nutrition; and as a result the spiritual nature is so weakened that it is unable to exercise the restraining influence over the mind which would enable it to surmount its difficulties and maintain an atmosphere above conflict and despondency.’
He further advises physicians to encourage their patients to engage ‘in daily, systematic Bible reading.’ In fact, in his textbook for doctors, Dr. Sadler prints forty-three different verses as examples of the therapeutic value of Bible reading” (p. 97).
One scripture which Dr. McMillen did not cite, but which I have found to be extremely helpful, is Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” As we experience the horrifying trials that are going to come upon the entire world within the next several years, we will all need to focus our minds on the “Big Picture.” We will need to carefully think through the fact that Almighty God is working with the entire world—teaching it lessons for all eternity—and especially working with us, His children. He will let us go through these trials for a few minutes or seconds—compared to eternity.
Then, at Christ’s return, we will be given spiritual bodies to live forever in magnificent glory. Whatever trials we go through in this life will be nothing compared to what God will give us. As Jesus said specifically about these coming days near the end of this age: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). In our minds and hearts, we all need to learn to “look up” and realize that it is our Creator who is guiding these overall events in the world. We are His children. We are begotten through His Holy Spirit. If we will just use that Spirit to walk with Him, talk with Him, commune with Him and put our hands in His—through every dark valley—we will come out on the other side much stronger and more confident. For He will never leave us or forsake us.
Frankly, brethren, some of us may be beaten. Some of us may be thrown in jail. Some of us may have sicknesses or physical weaknesses to bring us down—as the Apostle Paul himself said. But if our eyes are on the Creator and we remember all the things He has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us because of His absolute promises, we must know—and know that we know—that we will come out stronger on the other side. As Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:16–17).
Many times, Paul and other early Christians could easily have become very discouraged or tempted to turn aside. Paul and others were beaten with whips and thrown in jail (2 Corinthians 11). But they knew that God was real and therefore were strengthened by these trials, which forced them to focus their eyes on the ultimate reality of the Creator working out His purpose—teaching them lessons for all eternity—and making them more fit to be kings and priests in His eternal Kingdom.
Please, brethren, never forget Christ’s inspired instruction, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:28–30).
As our Father in heaven looks down from heaven on every one of us, His children, He knows about “every hair” on our heads. He will take care of us. He deeply desires us to be in His Kingdom—so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Remember David’s inspired words: “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth” (Psalm 33:13–14). And later in this inspiring Psalm: “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name” (vv. 20–21). Each of us must learn to genuinely trust in God—to truly believe that He is our Father who created us and has now “called” us to be His full sons. So we must truly walk with God by constantly studying and drinking in of His Word, by “feeding” on Christ (John 6:57). We must learn to pray fervently each morning and to start out each day by talking earnestly with our Father in heaven and asking for His divine guidance and strength. Make God the very center of your life. Then, Almighty God will always be with you to strengthen and to encourage you. Keep your mind on what the prophet Isaiah wrote, in a verse said to have been the favorite Bible verse of former British Prime Minister William Gladstone: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
Brethren, please really walk with God, as I have described. Learn to focus on the most magnificent future that can even be imagined by mankind: the opportunity to become full members of the Family of God—our faces shining like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3). This will be your future if you never allow yourself to become discouraged. This will be your future—if you become a truly positive person and learn to genuinely walk by faith.
With Christian love,
