This is the final blog in a nine-part series that has been designed to open up the concept of a future for all of us like nothing we’ve yet seen – it’s “Beyond Human Experience”. For some people, ‘worry’ is part of everyday life. If we’re well off and lucky enough to be a company boss, we’re worried about keeping sales above costs and how to maintain the future sustainability of the organisation. If we’re poor and living hand-to-mouth, we’re worried about keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table and when the next bill is due to arrive.
In the 1920s financial melt-down, the suicide rate was greatest among the rich. The poor just got on as they had always done. But in preparing for our future as we look at the massive growth in population with free-flowing migration against reduced employment prospects, work contracts that are now ‘zero hour contracts’, which places all the benefits with the employer but leaves the worker with no security, reduced income, and a restricted future, you may be asking: Should I Be Worried About the Future?
Unlike anything that Hollywood has yet come up with when predicting the future of our planet, the Creator God has told us of a global intervention that is unlike anything we’ve seen in the history of humankind. It’s called “The Day of the Lord”. Having said that, and although the ‘Day of the Lord’ will be a global thing (everyone will know about it and no-one will be in any doubt), it can also be a private thing too — just for you. The Kingdom of God is right at the door now. Just as it was for our son Michael. He woke up on August 1st 2009 to discover that he’d passed suddenly and quite unexpectedly into God’s Kingdom. As quickly and as simply as that! There was no warning at all. His last day on Planet Earth was July 31st 2009 and not one of us in our family had any clue that this would happen.
So in that sense, both the words of Isaiah the ancient prophet in his own book the Book of Isaiah in the Bible, and John the Baptist in the Book of Matthew Chapter 3 in the Bible are just as relevant for us today, as they were when they were first spoken:
‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness (in the dry and unfruitful parts of your soul). Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.’[i]
Each day we’re to live prepared for the inevitable. In your own heart and mind and as you go about your daily business, each of us need to live prepared to meet our Maker.
‘Do this, knowing the time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.’[ii]
But should we be worried?
Anyone in any good relationship will want to warn those closest to them if something significant is about to happen. The reason why the Creator God would give visions of the future to those who wrote the Bible, would be to show us that He’s in firm control. Even when it looks like the world is spinning out of control. The reason why He miraculously preserve His Word in great detail, is preparation. His Word stops us from being ‘left out of the loop’, caught unawares, left bewildered, and without direction. So this webpage is about informing you of what God’s Word says. He’s given us a decent amount of information so we can make an adequate decision for ourselves. He’s prepared those who want to believe, so that we’ll stand firm.[iii]
‘Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said … “There will be no more delay!”’[iv]
So the plan is that we don’t lose our faith in the storm. Don’t get worried, just listen and take notice then get your house in order. We are meant to be strong and hold fast to the One who made us in His own image, so that we won’t give up … no matter how long it takes … and no matter how bad it gets.
[i] Isaiah 40:3 [NASB]
[ii] Romans 13:11 [NASB]
[iii] Ephesians 6:10-17
[iv] Revelation 10:5-6 [NIV]