Serving in the Emergency

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” Luke 21:28 (NIV)

With all that is happening around us today, it would no longer be hard for even those with little knowledge of Bible prophesy to see that we are living in the time the Bible describes as “the last days”, a time of widespread uncertainty and turmoil. Jesus described these times this way: “Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world” (v26).

Much has been written and said about the prophetic meaning of some of these recent events that I do not want to concern myself with that here. Rather my concern is to share some simple practical truths that our Lord gives us in Luke Chapter 21 on how we ought to live in the light of the time in which we find ourselves.

Firstly, we must beware of fainting in our hearts. Jesus said “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap” (v 34). It is so easy with all the terrible news on TV for our hearts to be weighed down by fear and anxiety. If you are a child of God then your life is in his hands. We can walk in peace when we choose to trust God, even when the whole earth is shaking. Resist fear and worry, understand that this is Satan’s strategy to paralyse you and make you ineffective for God. With thanksgiving submit your cares to God. God wants to give us peace in the midst of uncertainty. Walking in peace is not only important for our own soul’s safety but it is also a very powerful testimony of the reality of Jesus, to the confused multitude around us who are yet to know him.

Secondly, we must avoid distraction by all means because we know that time is short. Jesus said, “When these things begin to take place, stand up …” (v.28a). We need to “stand up”. We cannot afford to be complacent anymore. We need to straighten up our relationship with the Lord. It’s time to stand up. We cannot afford to be cold or lukewarm now, or else we will be lost. Let nothing distract us from seeking a deepening communion with the Lord. I encourage you to find time daily to shut out the world so as to be alone with God.

Then he says “…and lift up your heads” (v.28b). Jesus knows that distraction comes to us because we focus on the petty issues of life all around us. He wants us to lift up our heads and look up to catch a vision of what God is about in our world. You may never see it reported on TV but God is at work in the midst of all this chaos. God still loves the world and he is about to do a quick work in righteousness. God is harvesting the nations. Unless we are able to look beyond ourselves and our personal ambitions, we will not see what God is doing in our neighbourhood and in our world. Ours is a time of great opportunity and responsibility for the Kingdom of God. God wants to do an incredible work in our day, but he seeks co-labourers – you and me. I personally believe that if we will co-operate with God and pray and play our part, we are going to see in our day a massive harvest of souls in our community and among the unreached nations (particularly among Muslims) like never before.

So we have become aware that the end of times has come upon us and we are seeing the “beginning of sorrows”. Yet God is saying to us “Let not your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1 (KJV). Rather he is calling us to greater intimacy; to be focused, and to be a people of vision; to give up our small ambitions and to sacrifice to see his Kingdom come.

“As long as it is day, we must work the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 (NIV)