Perhaps this thing that hovers over us in our darkness, waiting for us to decide that none of our efforts are worth the trouble is right. Maybe it’s really not worth the hassle? But are we qualified to make that call?

God has not given us a spirit of fear…so why are so many Christians out there whining and praying that Jesus needs to come back now and put an end to all of the evil that is plaguing our world? It’s not time for that. According to the Bible, we will have at least seven years of tribulation during which the faithful of the church will be saved from the impending wrath of God.(1 Thessalonians 5:9). Or at least, that’s how I heard it.

There is a whole timeline of events for end times starting with the rapture of the church as described in 1 Corinthians 15:52 to the rise of the Antichrist described in Revelation 13:1 and Daniel 9:27 to the tribulation as mentioned above to the Battle of Gog and Magog, the abomination of desolation, The Battle of Armagedon (where the Antichrist is captured and thrown into the lake of fire), the judgment of the nations, to the binding of Satan where he is held in a bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). All of these things must happen before we reach the Millennial Kingdom as described in Revelation 20 and Isaiah 60-62 where we will experience 1,000 years of peace. So, to call for Jesus to return at this juncture is a cop-out. It’s not up to Him to fix our mess…again! We need to dig in and start fixing it ourselves.

He has been equipping us or at least trying to equip us all of our lives, but yet, some of us still insist on letting evil walk all over us. For example, how many are content to follow these useless rules and mandates when it comes to COVID in the name of compliance? I’ve made many sacrifices in terms of the level of income I have and the lifestyle I choose to live in the name of preserving my God-given freedom not to have my body used as a testing ground for dangerous chemicals. There is no concert or sporting event or job important enough for me to throw away common sense to let the government force me to do things I don’t feel are spiritually and morally right. It’s all political and the people who are pushing the narrative could give two hoots about your well-being. I won’t assist them in their quest to drive God out of everything and disable the people of this nation, this world. We are supposed to fight!

It’s not convenient or attractive, by any means. But the more people who comply with tyranny, the more pervasive the assault on our freedoms and our ability to pursue happiness and fulfillment here on earth. Since we’re going to be here for a while, I think it’s worth making the effort to preserve the rights given to us in the Constitution and by God. Yes, I get that no one wants to throw away their riches in the name of making a point. But in the end, you’re going to end up losing so much more than a few bucks. Have faith in His provision. Understand that this is a test and a good number of people aren’t scoring so high right now.

I leave you with this verse from Joshua 24:15, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods our ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Rebecca Benston is the owner of Higher Ground Books & Media and the author of over twenty titles currently available through Amazon and other outlets. Her books include a mystery series (The Rona Shively Stories), empowerment resources such as Wise Up to Rise Up, Don’t Be Stupid (And I Mean That in the Nicest Way), and From Judgment to Jubilee, children’s books including Grumble D. Grumble Learns to Smile, All the Scary Things, and See How Strong You Are. Benston lives in Springfield, Ohio with her awesome daughter, Mya and enjoys traveling, reading, writing, and telling it like it is. She enjoys being able to help other authors get their stories out there through Higher Ground and has recently expanded her freelance services to offer more extensive guidance as a writing coach and social media manager. For more information, you can contact Benston at highergroundbooksandmedia@gmail.com.

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