A while ago I blogged on the distress I go through in my self-publishing. Now I’m calling it “My fears of what will be”—my fear of possibly finding out that my book cover will not look very good, or as good as it should be. And in every project, that is my fear. But I did my best on it, so why do I fear?
As I look at some old people that are facing the end of life, I think they have the same fears (as I sometimes do). It is the fear of finding out that our eternal rewards will be small.
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 34:4: “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” In this context, David was fearing for his life being in the camp of the Philistines; and so, he pretended to be crazy so that they would not think that he would be a problem. And it worked; they dismissed him and put him out (1 Sam. 21:10-15). Hence, God saved him. Apparently, David sought the Lord in what to do, and he thought God was telling him to pretend to be crazy (so God has a sense of humor!).
Now, as for whether we should have fears for our eternal rewards; if we do all that God leads us to do, all that we think He wants us to do, what else can we do? If we take each day at a time and obey Him, what else can we do? Remember what Paul said at the end of his life? “I have fought the good fight” (2 Tm. 4:7-8). Hence, if you also have done your best in fighting the good fight, there is no more you can do. Ask Him to deliver you from all fears. I think it is marvelous that it says all fears. I think fear tends to multiply itself and grow in our heart if we let it. And it need not be. Read further on in Psalm 34. God is telling us to focus on the Lord and praise Him and see that He is good; and then to fear Him. Verse 9 says, “O fear the LORD, you His saints: for to those who fear Him there is no want.”
I think that if we have a healthy fear of God (to trust Him and pray about everything), He will keep us from all the bad fears, the fears we find in this evil world.
These are the best words I can think of. Here’s my story. I am in the process of republishing a few of my books. I’m not the best at it, but I insist on doing everything myself (I’m a self-publisher). I am mostly redoing the book covers. Well, I won’t go into all the details, but it is a little tricky getting everything to line up and looking good. Then next, I have to submit it and buy a copy of the book. And when I get it back in the mail (in print form), I have to inspect it for its approval. If it looks good to me I will mark it as approved and then it is put on the market. However, if it is not right—for instance if the title and authors name on the edge of the book are not centered—I have to fix it and send it back again and go through the whole process again, which takes at least another two or three weeks. Well, sometimes it is Lulu’s (the publisher) fault and sometimes my fault. But regardless, it’s a headache and I get a feeling of regret over the loss of time and money. Sometimes I have to go through the approval process three or four times. I hate the waiting! I regret the waiting.
Or maybe it’s not entirely regret. Maybe it’s partly just grumbling and complaining and worry—and all distress.
Last night I had a good sleep and God allowed me to dream. I was in another world. I woke up refreshed. But then two seconds after I woke up I remembered my publishing problem and I said to myself, “Oh no, I am here again in this real world of distress.” I thanked the Lord for allowing me to escape for the night in my dreams, and I also prayed He would somehow take away my regret and distress—my feeling of loss, or whatever this bad feeling is.
You know, I think this feeling is what hell will be like—an eternity of regret over loss, and over my mistakes. And not being able to do anything about it.
But as time passes I am hopeful that God will give me more positive, peaceful, hopeful thoughts. Just to read and meditate on Scripture and anything more positive helps. And praying over it helps. God will help. Scripture tells us that praying about our problems will cause the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7). Here, I take it that because of our union with Christ when we pray, Jesus will give us a supernatural inner peace and will guard and protect our being. Sounds wonderful. Just thinking about it is giving me hope.
More thoughts. I regret mistakes I make at my painting, but that’s different because I can fix it the next day. In the publishing world you have to wait and wait and wait.
And there are many other losses people have to deal with, like their house burning down and having to rebuild. Some people deal with theses things well, others don’t.
I’m reading about Jonathan Edwards. He had some real distresses to deal with. After serving as head Pastor in a church for over twenty years, because of a controversy over communion, a few leaders in the church expelled him. I’m sure he and his large family suffered a great loss. But was Janathan overcome with regret and sorrow? No. He remained strong in faith. He said, “The Lord has not forsaken us, nor suffered us to sink under our trials. He has in many respects exercised a fatherly care of us in our distresses.”
And God did have another mission for him as he began a mission to a group of Indians located about 100 miles west in the deep wilderness. It was a calling he was prepared for since he already had a prayer burden for them.
What does a Christian do in this evil world—with all the progressivism, with constant attacks on conservativism and Christianity, with government mandates, with wokeism, with all the fraud, especially with voting and in the media? If we think it is best to keep up with the news in order to be informed and to bring a positive influence, there will always be suffering—because the world is against us; it hates us.
So, this has been my dilemma and battle and cause of great sadness—to see the world falling down all around me, and to be inflicted as Lot was (2 Pt. 2:7-8). But recently, I have discovered a wonderful answer—some ways to bring help. There are a few of them.
My Discovery, Part 1 – I Can Laugh with God (from Psalm 2)
I will start with what God showed me in Psalm 2. Verses 1-3 kind of describes what is going on right now with globalism and the Great Reset, and all other such evil movements. We see it quite clearly here in these verses. They are taking counsel together against us Christians and all who are godly, and they are plotting to destroy us in order to exalt their own evil system—which eventually will become the government of the Antichrist.
But what does God do? What is His reaction to all this evil plotting against Him? He laughs! Because He knows how foolish they are and how all their plotting and planning will come to nothing. And He knows that soon His Son will take possession of all the nations of the earth and He will break them with a rod of iron in His New Kingdom which we call the Millennium (verses 6-9).
So this is my great discovery: since I am in Christ and I sit with God and His Son in the heavenly places (1 Cor. 2:6), I can laugh with Him at all that is going on in the world. God is not the least bit affected or disturbed by it, so I shouldn’t be either. And I can and should see how foolish the nations are in all their foolish plotting. And I, with God, can see how it all will end—when Christ rules the world in His wonderful kingdom of peace and love.
My Discovery, Part 2 – Being in the Word and in Prayer Helps
More recently, God reinforced what He showed me earlier in a much different way. He showed me that I can have some comfort and peace (from the evils of the world) in knowledge—knowledge of truth, of Him, and of His word. There is some knowledge to be gained in books that speak the truth (about many things); but a greater knowledge is in the bible and also in prayer.
My Discovery, Part 3 – In Bible Prophecy
When I study bible prophecy and thus learn many things of the future, this gives me an unbelievable edge on all the so called “elite” and experts in the world. I know some things they don’t know—because they regard the bible as foolishness. Hence, with this future knowledge I, with God, sit with Him and laugh!
This discovery was greatly reinforced one evening as I was sitting on my couch watching one of my favorite TV series, 24. It is a series of 24 highly dramatic hour-long shows staring Kiefer Sutherland, as Jack Bauer, where Jack and a cast of other CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) workers are constantly, for 24 hours, trying to counter terrorist activities against America. I love the show, but it has been a constant stress to me, especially seeing it for the first time. But I discovered that seeing these shows for the second and third time is significantly less stressful—because I know what’s going to happen. So, it gives me an entirely different perspective. And this is how we can and should view what is going on in the world.
So, when I learn (from my reading) what Klaus Schwab is doing and planning in his Great Reset, and what John Kerry is doing in his climate change stuff, and what Stephanie Kelton I doing with her Modern Monetary Theory (that we can just print more money), and what President Biden is up to, I should not worry or be stressed out, and I can actually laugh at it all and be at peace—because I know what is going to happen! I have seen the movie, and guess what? God wins! And we win!
You have seen the nature of the Tribulation in four different categories: a day of destruction and disaster, a time of trouble and distress, a day of vengeance and wrath, and a time of fear and terror. However, we need to be mindful that all of the different categories will be present and intermixed in all of the Tribulation. Also, know that many of the horrors will be present at the same time, overlapping each other. While there is a great earthquake, causing great fear, at the same time people will be suffering from malignant sores, and also from the pain of scorpion stings. And while many are sick and dying from polluted and poisoned water, they may also be suffering from the terrible heat of the sun.
And then, besides the pain of the body, there will be a deep-down anguish of soul caused by isolation and aloneness, and the loss of friends. This inner pain and despair may be what Zephaniah was trying to describe (in Zeph. 1:15).
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
And then, I think there will be a great inner suffering caused by a sense of guilt, and from disappointment one may feel about his life. And I suppose this inner suffering will be heightened as the wrath of God comes upon the earth, as they will be more aware of their sins and their pending punishment. Isaiah 2:19 says,
And men will go into caves of the rocks,
And into holes of the ground
Before the terror of the Lord.
Also, in Isaiah 13:6-9 it says,
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
8 And they will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
Of course, those who repent of their sins will have their anguish eased by the forgiveness of God. But those who do not repent, but continue in sin and to blaspheme God out of a hardened heart, God will give them over to a depraved mind (Rom. 1:26-28); and their pain and misery will continue on and on.
Furthermore, it is quite clear from Scripture that the pain and trouble of the Tribulation will get progressively worse from judgment to judgment. The trumpet judgments will be of greater intensity than the seal judgments, and the bowl judgments will be of greater intensity and destructiveness than the trumpets. It is hard to imagine such great Tribulation, but we must believe it. There is no way to get around it, to explain it away. It will happen.
Lastly, I must say something about the devastation that the Tribulation will cause on the earth. I suppose many don’t think about it, or dismiss it. But Scripture seems to emphasize it over and over. Isaiah 24:1 says, “Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants.” And He does this by both natural means and supernatural means, as He brings great earthquakes and volcanoes and fire and wind and falling stars and demons! It will be so terrible that mountains will be moved, or will disappear (Rev. 6:14, 16:20), and cities will fall (be destroyed). And I think most of the earth will be unrecognizable. It will be torn apart by earthquakes, devastated by high winds (hurricanes and tornados) and hail, and burned by fire everywhere.
I know that many (or some) will survive it somehow, somewhere; but I think, for the most part, the earth will be laid waste.
The word “tribulation” best fits under this category, and its literal meaning is “to press,” as to press grapes; it also carries the meaning, to be afflicted, and burdened. Besides the word tribulation, seven other words in the following passages fit under this heading: trouble, distress, misfortune, testing (or trial), gloom, darkness, and desolation.
Deuteronomy 4:30 (ASV)
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice:
This is no doubt referring to when Israel, at the very end of the Tribulation, sees Jesus coming in the clouds and they mourn over their rejection of Him and repent (read Zechariah 12:10).
Jeremiah 30:7
Alas! for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress(trouble, ASV),
But he will be saved from it.
Though the Tribulation is meant for all unrepentant sinners, it is especially meant for Israel, to compel her to repent.
Joel 2:1-2
Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming;
Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
(see also Amos 5:18, 20)
The people in Joel’s day are familiar with the darkness and gloom of a locust plague. Here the prophet uses this well-known plague and drought to warn of the future Day of the Lord when something like locust will invade the earth, but they will be more destructive and demonic (Joel 2:4-11; Rev. 9:7-9).
Obadiah 12-15
“Do not gloat over your brother’s day,
The day of his misfortune.
And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Yes, do not boast
In the day of their distress.
13 “Do not enter the gate of My people
In the day of their disaster.
Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity
In the day of their disaster.
And do not loot their wealth
In the day of their disaster.
14 “And do not stand at the fork of the road
To cut down their fugitives;
And do not imprison their survivors
In the day of their distress.
15″For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
Your dealings will return on your own head.
This is a warning and a prophecy to all nations that mistreat and curse Israel. The warning began way back in Abraham’s day when God declared, “And the one who curses you [Israel] I will curse” (Gen. 12:3). So here Obadiah gives a warning to the enemies of Israel not to rejoice and gloat over their calamity, or loot their wealth, etc. Because if they do, those things “will be done to you.” Hence, the Tribulation will be for some the penalty for mistreating Israel.
This verse, and verses 14-18, seem to point to the near fulfilment when Babylon subdued Judah, but also to a far fulfillment involving the entire earth in the Tribulation.
Matthew 24:21
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.
Revelation 7:14
And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
These ones were saved during the tribulation, were martyred for their faith, and are here in heaven.
Revelation 3:10
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.
Here is God’s promise to this Philadelphia church, and also to all believers of all times, that He will keep us from the “hour of testing,” which is meant as the Tribulation. Hence, God has not destined His church for wrath—either for the Tribulation wrath or for eternal wrath (1 Thess. 5:9).
In this second category we are focusing on all the things that will bring personal suffering, pain and misery. Certainly, God’s purpose for this is to cause sinners to repent. And for many it will work; for as we see in the fifth seal, many will be martyred for their faith. Then also, just as Jesus returns, when they see Him, the entire nation of Jews (those who are spared) will repent and be saved.
Many however, even after all their suffering, will not repent, but will continue to blaspheme God (Rev. 16:21). For them the distress and trouble and anguish, even the darkness and gloom and desolation of the Tribulation will be God’s judgment on them for their sins. Here are a few samples from the actual Tribulation.
And he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.
Revelation 16:2 (the first bowl)
And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
Revelation 16:8-9 (the fourth bowl)
And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with fierce heat;
Stephen Nielsen 