A Church Without Restraint

I can tell you that just from a cursory examination of the news from the last few weeks and even days, there is a coming storm and the high winds from it will make even the strongest of people hold on to anything not battened down. Along with the high winds there are tremors making the earth shake and making the ground below us unstable and even the shelter above us shake and rattle. It seems there is no place to either to be safe or hide. Hearts are close to failing us as Jesus predicted in the various Olivet Discourses and now we can clearly envision how that could happen. Regardless of whether it is a literal weather disturbance or uncertainty in the financial markets, political upheavals or high social tensions, everything that can be shaken is being shaken. You may not want to hear it, but happy days are not here again, at least not yet. The various storms are forming and the skies are getting ominously dark.
Jesus Is Warning Us
Just as the pilot and flight attendants cautioned us on that flight my family was on, we need to prepare for all manner of rattling, quaking, jolting, and unnerving events, events that are not for the faint of hearts. Yes, we know that we are to look up for our redemption is getting closer, but that doesn’t always help us when the world around is losing its moorings and our sails are not allowing us to navigate to calmer waters. The apostle Paul faced such a storm as did the twelve disciples and of the two instances only Paul had peace. And angel assured Paul he would survive; however the disciples got their assurance from none other than Jesus, Himself and they doubted. In one case, their master was in the boat and in the other He came to them by walking on water. Why did Paul not panic and the twelve did? It has everything with where they got their peace from and the strength they drew from it. In the times ahead of us we can people of peace or people of panic.