I love this Psalm by King David who knew a thing or two about living under stress and pressure! Psalm 43:5 (ESV
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
We are living in incredible times. Not for the faint of heart. Jesus gives us a description of these days in Luke 21:25-28 (ESV)
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
The Apostle Paul gives a similar description in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 (ESV)
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”
It's easy to get caught up in the emotion of the times and get worried and downright stressed about all that’s going on in the world. Such is not the case, however. There are parallel universes at play here. On one side, there the kingdom of darkness which would appear that’s winning. It always seems that way. Living in this oppressive darkness threatens to snuff the light out. Jesus tells us what to do. He says, “keep looking up”! Why? Because there is another kingdom at work here, the “Kingdom of Light”. The light always overcomes darkness, always! It’s science! The darker the room, the brighter the smallest candle!
These two kingdoms are at odds with one another. Just when it seems that darkness has won, bam, the Kingdom of Light comes through like lightning! Jesus compared the two this way in John 10:10 (ESV)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The kingdom of darkness always promises life but always ends up in death. The kingdom of light always come through in the end. I have come to reject most of the eschatology that the church has come to believe over the last 150 years. Why? Because it focuses too much on the power of darkness and not the power that we have to see things turn around. We have abdicated our responsibility to be light in the world. We have lost faith that the kingdom of God is at work in the earth presently to bring light to the darkness. Jesus actually loves the world. After all. He gave His life and shed His blood to remove the curse that had been placed upon us and the earth. Why else would Jesus have commanded us in Luke 19:13 (ESV)?
“Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’”
Other translations use the term “occupy”. It is the Greek word “πραγματεύομαι”,pragmateúomai (from 4229 /prágma,"a necessary matter, what is pragmatic") – properly, the ancient mercantile term for trading (exchanging) to make gain, i.e. to do business (barter etc.); trading, exchanging (leveraging) one thing for another to make a legitimate gain; (figuratively) "to bear much fruit" (cf. Jn 15:2f), i.e. the opposite of being fruitless because refusing to make trades by "playing it safe."4231 (pragmateuomai) means "turning something over," making a good trade – i.e. "to good account . . . to administrate, manage profitably the capital at your disposal"
This past week, we recognized the 80th anniversary of D-Day, remembering the allied invasion of France on June 6th, 1944 to drive out the fascist Nazi forces which had held most of Europe in their grasp for over 4 years. Occupying involved “doing the business” of freedom in 4 steps; initial assault, establishing a beachhead, invading inland to drive out the enemy and then occupying the land by not allowing the Axis forces to return. It took courage, faith and persevering power to achieve success. It wasn’t easy. The US Cemetery at Normandy, France contains the remains of over 9,000 brave men who paid the ultimate price for freedom.
The forces of darkness will not be defeated without a fight. They will attempt to regain land that was lost. In World War II, this happened in the winter of 1944,45 when the German forces tried to retake Belgium in what is known as the “Battle of the Bulge’. This counter-offensive caught the Allies forces completely off guard. It cost the lives of 1000’s more men just to maintain the ground of what had already been taken. Eventually, the Nazi forces were pushed back into Germany and the war in Europe was officially over on May 8th,1945.
The Lord is only looking for a few who will not give into the darkness but be courageous enough to stand and spread forth the Kingdom. It’s all about real estate. We have been given the authority to drive out and occupy where we live for the glory of God. On Sunday, I am going to play and incredible clip of a conversation of the new president El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and how God turned his country around.
God is using men in this world has instruments of righteousness to regain the nations of the world. The stressful things we experience are only there to exercise our faith. If we do not lose heart, we will see the hand of God move and bring forth His righteousness, light and freedom into the places where we live and occupy. The fullness of salvation will be revealed. We will become the city on a hill that shines the light of the Gospel for all to see! Keep looking up! We are on the side of victory. The best is yet to come!! Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”