So, a small virus has managed to put entire countries in a state of disarray and chaos. Our relatively small country at the tip of Southern Africa has not managed to escape its trial of anarchy. Twenty plenty has turned into twenty catastrophe, for the entire world.
So here we are in lock-down for 3 weeks, shut between four walls in the so called safety of our homes, and today is day 9. It sounds like I’m keeping a log book while I’m counting down the days to the end of the world. A world which, no-one is sure will ever look the same again.
And it’s true; physically a lot of things might change after we emerge from this trial, but what about the spiritual landscape?
What is God doing in this time, when prophesies of end times are rampant and talk of revival fills the air? I do hope that we will see an amazing revival of His Bride, the Church when we are able to meet again in His House. I am almost sure that God is using this time to work in the hearts of His beloved ones to make them ready to ignite a flame of His glory which will spread rapidly across the nations at His appointed time. We can only pray and turn our hearts to Him as we make use of this time and quiet around us to reflect on His purposes.
Despite despair and hopelessness and the sense of loss we all carry during this time, God still has a perfect plan and will bring it to fruition because He already has the Victory. Not only is He victorious and He reigns high above all that we are seeing taking place now, but us, His children, are also victorious. And it’s time that we show the world the hope and the victory that He has given us. It’s time that we turn our eyes away from the things we see to the unseen, where He has already won the battle and defeated our Enemy. And if we live in this place of victory, we can surely echo it to the lost around us.
During these times, many turn to the Book of Revelation to find a map of the spiritual and physical state of events that will enfold during the last days, and with good reason. There is only one book in the Bible that specifically promises a blessing for those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it (Rev 1:3).
The Book of Revelation can be daunting and the imagery even disturbing, but it also reveals the majesty of God on His throne, and describes the Son of Man in all His glory. Revelation should reveal to us the reality of the coming King and the promise of a new Earth and a New Jerusalem where God will make His home among His children. Despite all the disasters that will befall the earth and humankind, there is a promise of hope for all those who are His.
There was a time when I used to be very skeptical of discussions around the end-times and especially those cautioning that the end is near. I didn’t like to engage in those kinds of talks because I felt like we will never know when the end will be, and I thought that it’s pointless to speculate about the events happening in our world today… Then one night last year, I had a frightening dream. In the dream I realized that the end of time had dawned, and I was trying to convince my husband of it, even as I felt myself rising into the air and into the clouds with other people. At some point everyone was high up in a building, but I was stuck in an elevator, rapidly plunging down to the depths of the earth. I woke up with an intense feeling of urgency that I couldn’t explain.
I’ve come to realize that we do need to ask God for wisdom to understand the times that we find ourselves in, and we need to be proactive to find His lost sheep before the end arrives. I find it interesting that of all the people in the world at the time of His birth over 2000 years ago, only the wise men had acted on the sign in the sky and searched for Him based on it. Although we don’t know the exact number of wise men, it is commonly believed that there were 3 of them. Of the entire earth’s population at the time, only 3 people searched for Him of their own accord – because they had seen and understood the sign.
I would like to be in that minority too when Jesus comes again. Revelation has opened my eyes again to searching for the signs of the times and living with the sense of urgency that it requires – my prayer is that it might do the same for you too, especially during these times, as the world looks to anyone who can offer them Hope and Light.
The Faithfulness of God 