Bad News, Good News

Good Morning fellow blog readers.  Sorry I’m a little late this morning.  I had fully intended to wake up and write you a lovely blog about my weekend in the cloud forest, then I opened my email and the sky fell on my head.  Bad news.  I got sick to my stomach.  My hands started shaking.  I lost my appetite for my breakfast.  I hate bad news.

My husband commiserated with me for a moment, then patted my arm and said, “It will all work out, you’ll see.”  And he was out the door.  Me, I shot off two messages asking for prayer from dear friends and family, and I ran off to find Jesus.  I felt like a little girl running off in tears to find her Father.  I needed to bury my head in his chest, feel his strong arms around my shoulders, and just cry.  Jesus, I breathed his name.

Opening my devotional and asking him to speak to me, I read this:

“Expect to encounter adversity in your life… stop trying to find a way that circumvents difficulties (and wasn’t my mind just spinning as I grasped for a solution to my bad news?  Wasn’t I just doing this?!)  The main problem with an easy life is that it masks your need for Me… Anticipate coming face to face with impossibilities:  situations totally beyond your ability to handle (at this I smiled as a tear eeked out of the corner of my eyes). This awareness of your inadequacy is not something you should try to evade.  It is precisely where I want you- the best place to encounter Me in My Glory and Power.  When you see armies of problems marching toward you, cry out to Me!  Allow Me to fight for you.  Watch Me working on your behalf, as you rest in the shadow of My Almighty Presence.”

Ok, God.  I throw up my hands, powerless to fix this problem.  I got nuthin’.  I trust that you have a plan for this, that you saw this coming before I woke up this morning and opened my email.  I’m going to trust you.  I don’t have any other options.  I’ve used up all my resources in this area, and I’m broke. I come to you empty handed.  I can offer nothing to fix this problem.  It’s all on You.  I need a miracle.

I told you this would happen!

Sometimes we just need a good, “I told you so!”  When the disciples asked about The End, Jesus told them this.  

Watch out that you are not deceived.  For many charlatans will come in my name, claiming, “I am he,” and “The time is near.”  Do not follow them.  When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened.  These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.  This is just part of normal history.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.  At times you’ll think the very sky is falling!

But before all this, they will arrest you, hunt you down, drag you into court, and persecute you.  They will deliver you into the hands of your enemies and throw you in prison.  It will go from bad to worse.  Everyone will be at your throat because of me.

You will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.  This will result in your being witnesses to them.  But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.  For I will give you words and wisdom that will reduce your accusers to stammers and stutters.

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.  All men will hate you because of me.  But every detail of your life- even down to the  hairs of your head- are in my care and control.  By standing firm, hang in there, don’t lose faith and you will gain life.

It will seem like all hell has broken lose.  There will be sign in the sun, moon and stars.  Everyone will be in shear panic.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.  At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift us your heads because your redemption is drawing near.  Hold your head up high because help is on the way!

Be on your guard.  Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation become dull with parties, shopping, and the anxieties of life.  Otherwise that day will take you completely by surprise.  It will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.  Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that is coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:8-36 a combination of the Message Version and NIV)

*****It looks like a mess around here, and it is.  But hold on to your seats because the ride is going to get bumpier before it’s over.  Just hang in there.  Jesus already told us that it’s going to get ugly which means he’s got this under control- nothing surprises him.  It’s part of his plan.  Why?  Because if you don’t think you need a Savior yet, just wait- you’ll want one real soon!  So don’t be afraid, dear Christians.  The pilot of our airplane is Jesus and he’s just put on the “fasten seatbelt” light.  Turbulence is coming, but our pilot can handle it and bring you home safe and sound.

Brace for crash landing!

Don’t be naive.  There are difficult times ahead.  As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money hungry, self promoting, boastful, proud, abusive, profane, contemptuous of parents, ungrateful, unholy, impulsively wild, ruthless, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, addicted to lust, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure instead of lovers of God.  They will make a show of religion, but live like a heathen behind the scenes.  Hypocrites.  Stay away from people like this.  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Don’t go along with the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They have refused so long to deal with God that they have lost touch not only with God but with reality itself!  They can’t think straight anymore.  Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)

The way it all fell apart was like this:  Even though people knew God perfectly well, they neither worshiped him as God nor gave thanks to him.  Their thinking became dumb and pointless because sin makes people stupid.  They had neither sense nor direction in their lives.  They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.  They traded the glory of God who holds the whole universe in his hands for cheap figurines that you can buy at any roadside stand.

So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, then that’s what you get.”  It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.  All this because they traded the true God for a fake god- they made an idol of their passions- they worshiped the god they made inside of themselves instead of worshiping the God who made them!  What a mess.  (Romans 1:21-25)