Better Days Are Ahead

It is very easy to get distracted. If you’re a news watcher at all, the urgent daily messages are like the pounding of the surf on your brain.

Wham! Wham! Wham! What new horror can they throw at you to scare you to death? They know that as long as they have you scared, you will keep on watching, and that equals ratings, which translates into money for them.

Every morning I sit with the Lord and I write in my journal what He tells me. From time to time, I go back and read what I wrote for the last week or month. It helps keep Lorraine and I on track. What God says is always comforting and reassuring, because He holds us in the palm of His hand and there, we are safe.

I love Psalm 91:1 (KJV). In fact, it is my favorite verse in the whole Bible.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This morning as I checked out the headlines, I got a little concerned. Okay, now we have to deal with this, and the wheels of my brain started churning in a high degree of alarm.

Then the Lord said to me, “Keep going on as if nothing has happened.”

Wow! I recognized this word, because He said virtually the same thing to me in the year 2000 when the Millennium Bug was bearing down upon us. I had just been up north and met with an old classmate from Crown College. He had prepared extensively for the Millennium Bug and he was pushing me to do something. The electricity grids would go down, he said, so I wouldn’t have any heat. I said I had a barrel stove in the garage, so he urged me to get a mammoth amount of wood.

When I got back to Minneapolis I went to McDonald’s, got some coffee and sat there for a long time. I was upset.

“Lord, have I totally missed it? I haven’t prepared at all for this thing.”

His reply was very simple, “Just do what I told you to do. Do your events.” So, I was to ignore this millennium thing completely.

Later, I visited my pastor and we discussed the Millennium Bug. “What’s going to happen, Pastor?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s going to happen,” he said simply.

That night at the evening service, he poked a little fun at the people who were storing up food in preparation for “everything to fall apart.”

“You’re storing up all of this food. What’s going to keep people from taking it from you?” he asked.

Well, you know what happened. Half the Christians thought that this was the end of the world. They spent countless hours preparing for it . . . and what happened? Nothing happened!

If we are going to jump at every alarming piece of news, then we will be continually distracted, and living in fear. We know from scripture we are not supposed to live in fear. I suggest you live “tucked under Father’s wings (Psalm 91:4 ESV).” Listen to Him, remain calm . . . and focus, focus, focus!

He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.

Stay on task. Refuse to be pulled away. Yesterday, I got a text from a friend with a video link on the Great Tribulation. I deleted it. I don’t need to be wasting my time learning about the great tribulation. The time is set, and my obsessing about it, isn’t going to change anything. Only God knows. Jesus doesn’t even know when He is going to return.

Live like He is coming back today. Plan like He won’t be coming back for 100 years.

If you are continually alarmed and jarred off course by every wind of some new coming disaster, then you won’t get done what God wants you to get done.

In the year 2000 there was so much “hoopla” about Christ’s return. Even my pastor was preaching that he thought Jesus would return in the year 2000.

I remember so clearly driving back from church, all upset. “Lord, what should I do? I have all these plans and things I know you have told me to do. Should I just stop now because you are coming back?”

He said to me, “How do you know it isn’t going to be 20 years, yet? Keep going with your plans.”

Well, what do you know? It is now 21 years from the time He spoke those words to me. If I had stopped and just waited for Christ’s return, look how much time I would have wasted? Yet, this is the tendency of so many people. They are obsessed with this “doom and gloom” eschatology.

I don’t like eschatology. I think it is mostly a waste of time. We are to be busy winning unbelievers to Christ, instead of engaging in endless arguments about the end times.

However, if you like eschatology, google Victorious Eschatology. It will be well worth your time. The church fathers like John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, and Origen all believed things were going to get better and better leading up to Christ’s return, that people would come to Christ in mass and the only religion at the end would be Christianity. Presently 200,000 people are getting saved every day.

Recently while praying, I saw a huge explosion over China. It covered a third of the country. I puzzled about it and then I thought, “Has to be a meteor to be that big.”

Then the Lord said, “Maybe it’s spiritual.”

A move of God, perhaps? Can you imagine a third of the Chinese people coming to Christ?

That thinking is the opposite of the “doom and gloom” stuff we have today, which started, by the way, with the advent of the Scofield Bible and Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism was invented by C.I. Schofield, God rest his soul. It is simply a man-made doctrine that has led the Church astray. If I am going to throw in with any group of church leaders, I will gladly choose Wesley, Spurgeon and Origen!

Is there a way to wrap up this discourse?

Definitely!

When the Lord returns, if He finds you doing what He told you to do, you will be okay, no matter what the circumstances.

Better days are ahead.

Don’t forget we are in a war with the forces of darkness. Keep interceding for America and never give in to the leftist anarchists!

President Reagan said, “America is a light set on a hill. If the light goes out, the whole world will become dark.”

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:1 ESV

And Now . . .

A COMMENT FROM ONE OF OUR READERS

Dear George

I wanted to take a moment and tell you how much your March letter just encouraged me. Wow! I will be forwarding this on to several friends. I rarely forward anything. But this letter is so for today, and so much what we as the church need to hear. Thank you. Keep pressing on. Don’t lose hope.

Joshua

Dear Joshua

Thank you for taking the time to comment on our letter. It is a great compliment to us to have you share our letter with others. This is a great encouragement to us!

George and Lorraine

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

Photo designed and taken by Lorraine

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