Difficult Times

I'm just finishing up leading studies in Jude and 2 Thessalonians, & have some thoughts I'd like to share with you....

When we go through challenging times we sometimes forget the Word, the promises of God, the character of God, and we need someone to come alongside and remind us of what we already know. Just as Paul did in writing to the believers at Thessalonica who were distraught because they had received erroneous information to the effect that they’d missed the rapture and were already in the time of judgment known as the ‘Day of the Lord’ (2 Thessalonians 2:5+). They believed this because of the intensity of the persecution they were enduring. They’d forgotten what Paul, Timothy and Silvanus had taught them on a previous visit… that the Day of the Lord cannot come until and unless the apostasy comes first, and the Man of Lawlessness is revealed (read the rest of chapter two for details) – neither of which had happened.

My point is, when we are in difficult times, that particular circumstance, whatever it is, is right in our face – it’s like holding your hand an inch from your nose – you cannot see past it. You cannot see through it. And everything -- everything that you can see, that you feel, that you hear, that you perceive, understand, process – EVERYTHING is filtered through that circumstance. That circumstance can even stand between you and Jesus. It can stand between you and the Word of God. It can stand between and re-interpret what you KNOW to be true.

So then not only are we processing our world through that circumstance, we are processing our understanding of and our relationship with God and His Word through that circumstance, and it becomes fertile ground for doubt. It’s just like when the devil said to Eve, “Did God really say that?” “Surely He didn’t really mean that!”… In our mind we hear, “Does the Bible really say that? Does God mean that? Does God still DO that?” EVERYTHING is processed through, colored with and limited by that circumstance -- if we allow it.

And of course, initially, if the circumstance is something truly awful, it really is all we CAN see – we are, after all, human. Our emotions take over and we have a time of panic or anguish or grief or shock ... That initial trauma to our life, to our faith, to our emotions, to our mind, to our body, can be all-encompassing and absolutely paralyzing. That’s when we need a brother or sister to come along and say, “Yes, these are the facts of the situation, but this is the truth of the Word of God that you know and have experienced. That YOU know. So let me help you walk through this.” Not to “preach” at them, but to comfort them. The Biblical definition of "comfort" is to come alongside and help to move ahead. Not to push. Not to pull. But also not to enable them to remain stuck where they are either.

I think of the word picture that Jesus gave us when He said His ‘yoke’ is easy and His burden is light. We are ‘yoked’, joined to Jesus, and it is HE who leads the way, directs us, walks with us, and as He does, it is HE who bears our burden. It is HIS yoke. So we, as the ‘hands and feet’ of Jesus on this earth, come alongside our brother or sister and help them to take that burden to Jesus and help them to move forward in their life, in their faith. As Galatians 6:2 tells us, we are to ‘bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ’.

That’s what Paul did with the Thessalonians. He didn’t just say, “You guys are being ridiculous. I already told you all about these things when I was with you. What is your problem? Stop it. Get ahold of yourself!” No. Well, he did kind of say that in much more diplomatic terms, but then he also said, let me tell you again the order of events that have to happen before the Day of the Lord. And let me also recount to you the faithfulness of God. AND, let me re-assure you that God has your back – and if those who are currently persecuting you do not repent, God will avenge you. If not here and now, rest assured that He will “repay with affliction those who afflict you, and give relief to you who are afflicted… when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8).

Circumstances in our country and around the world are bleak. There is great darkness. The enemy is emboldened seemingly without consequence and he doesn't even both to hide anymore. Lawlessness is shockingly rampant. Scoffers and mockers are loud and persistent. Evil has become ‘good’ and that which God calls good is denounced as ‘evil’ or hateful. We see people who we thought were sincere Christians openly turn their backs on Him. These things can cause us to doubt. But we were warned over and over again in the Scriptures that this would indeed be the case. So we really should not be surprised or allow these to shake us, but rather we should determine to ‘steel’ ourselves.. to fill ourselves with determination and courage.

In the gospel of Matthew (24:12) Jesus told us that the extreme increase of lawlessness has the potential to cause our love to grow cold. That should be sobering. If the agape of those who belong to Jesus grows cold, what then, of the human love of the unsaved? How much colder must that be? I do think that things may get to the point where people’s end-time theology is so challenged by current events that they give in to the scoffers and fall away from the faith. My unsolicited advice is that we hold our last-days timeline and interpretations loosely. When we search the Scriptures with open minds, leaving what we have always believed 'at the door' so to speak, we may find that some of what we have held to be true with regard to end time events is merely our own opinion, or that of someone else. Scripture is clear on many things, but equally vague on many others. Watch and pray. Be humble and teachable.

So we need each another. To draw strength from and to strengthen. To be encouraged by and to encourage. As Jude tells us, we are to ‘have mercy on those who are doubting’ (Jude 22). We must come alongside to encourage, without judgment, in love and with mercy. I will say it again, we need each other. Not to get down in the pit and merely commiserate with those whose world is being rocked and call it ‘comforting’, but to get down there and remind them of what they already know.. the truth of the Word of God, the truth of the character of God, the truth of the faithfulness of God. In their life. And help them to move forward. As we do that, God is faithful and He will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish them (1 Peter 5:10).

But let me challenge you, that we ourselves must know and be grounded in the Word of God. We must learn to study and dig into the Word for ourselves. It is past time for the body of Christ to leave its penchant for fluff, motivational sermons and feelings-based so-called 'Bible studies' that produce zero transformation. It is past time to ditch the pacifier and pick up the fork and knife and dig into the meat of the Word of God. Each one for themselves. It is not the pastor's job to build your faith. It is your job. It is his job (along with the prophet, the teacher, the apostle and the evangelist -- see Ephesians 4:8-12) to equip you for the work of ministry. If your pastor is not doing this, then find one who is. But most of all, learn to study the Word for yourself. Learn to feed yourself so that you can stand and so that you can strengthen others and so that you will not be deceived. And if you don't know how, that's ok. Ask. And if there is no one in your church or your life to show you, ask me! Because unless our roots go deep into the Word of God, we will not be able to stand in the days to come. And if we cannot stand, then we cannot help anyone else to stand. And if believers are unable to stand, what of the unsaved?

We must wake up and strengthen the things that remain. (Revelation 3:1-6). We must, as Jude exhorts: build ourselves on our most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, & keep ourselves in the love of God, as we wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And as we do so, we must have mercy on those who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 20-23).