It's the End of the World as We Know It. Now What Do We Do?
I am writing a novella (Partisans) that is set in a near-future, post-rapture United States. The story does not focus on the McLeods from the Kaiyo Stories precisely because Partisans is set after the rapture. The McLeods and most of their human friends are gone. Still, I love the new characters in Partisans and how they handle themselves as they are pulled into a bloody civil war. The action is exciting, and the circumstances are frightening. The story does not hold back; it is a cautionary tale of the potential reality of an American civil war. No one who understands history should look forward to a civil war. Civil wars are nasty, bloody, murderous affairs that can forever separate nations, ethnicities, friends, and families.
Fortunately for us, we live in a pre-rapture world. But many of us can see the world changing for the worse right before our eyes. Moreover, the changes that we see coming are frightening; the list of concerns is long in specifics. Christianity is dwindling and secularists here in this country attack Jews and Christians with regularity. It's much worse in other parts of the world where Christians are targeted for assassination, rape and slavery. There seems to be notable increases in destructive natural phenomenon (crazy weather/fires/earthquakes/volcanoes.)
In addition, we see continual moves toward a one world currency and the calls to eliminate free enterprise, free speech, freedom to exercise our faiths and the elimination of all other God granted rights. And it all seems to make frightful sense; the Bible confirms that, for at least a time, global tyranny will be brutally imposed upon mankind.
So, what do we do now?
We wait. We are told to wait.
“I wait for your salvation, O Lord.” Genesis 49:18
"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14 (ESV)
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” Psalm 31:24 (ESV)
Why should we wait? - We should wait precisely because God promotes our best interests through waiting. He is waiting for the lost to turn back to him. He is waiting for us.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
“…keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude 1:21(ESV)
“…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 (ESV)
Waiting may not be easy. Troubles may come your way. You may feel abandoned.
I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. Psalm 69:3 (ESV)
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1(ESV)
And we have no idea exactly how long we must wait.
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44 (ESV)
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13 (ESV)
But while we are waiting, we must get ready. - And what does getting ready look like?
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12:40 (ESV)
“You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7 (ESV)
“Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB)
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke21:34-36 (NIV)
And we are to wait hopefully, without fear but with rejoicing.
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 (ESV)
In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9 (NIV)
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV)
So, what will the end of waiting look like?
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11 (NIV)
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. … Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (ESV)
Both evil and ignorant scoffers will ridicule us for waiting on God to return. Ridicule is guaranteed. Shrug it off. Some of the scoffers probably know better, most do not. Forgive them and move on.
I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 1-4 (ESV)
Focus instead that God is indeed coming back. And soon.
“I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Revelation 3:11 (ESV)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 (ESV)
“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” 1Thessalonians 5:2 (ESV)
So, is the end of the world near? Perhaps. I think it is but that is my speculation. But what we can be certain of is that the end of our individual lives, our very own and very personal worlds, is very near. Accidents, crime, and illness are often deadly. Old age is always deadly.
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10 (ESV)
We may not like to think about it, but we will all die. Many of us will die soon, and, if the Rapture tarries, we will then die at our own appointed times. And when that happens, Christ will be there.
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43 (NKJV)
“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NLT)
Be ready. Get ready.
And understand that Christ will be, quite immeasurably, well worth the wait.