“But know this, that in the last days PERILIOUS times will come…” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
You remember the old song which goes like this: “In times like these….” This song was popularized by the late George Beverly Shea, the worship leader for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Truly, these are PERILIOUS times!
These are extraordinary times. The Bible describes these times as:
A time of trouble. There is trouble every where in the world
A time of adversity. Daily we are confronted with adversities.
A time of distress and uncertainty. These are times of great stress and uncertain.
A time of political and economic changes that have brought hardship on people.
A time of severe violence, terrorism, conflicts everywhere.
A time of famine and hunger in nations and in the world.
A time of unemployment. Many of the youths are unemployed.
A time of low economic activity, many workers are hardly paid their salaries regularly.
A time of business’s failure, devaluation and inflation.
A time of fear, worry, anxiety, suffering.
A time of low global oil price which has affected the economy of nations so severely
Conversely, it is also true that for many these times are a time of limitless opportunities. A time of creativity. A time to invest. A time to work harder than before. A time for strategic thinking. A time to sow seeds in strategic ways. Most certainly, God is not indifferent and aloof in times like these. Like God did to JOSEPH and Daniel, He is busy positioning his favored one in strategic positions in difficult times as these.
IT IS “WHAT YOU DO” OR “DO NOT DO” NOW THAT WILL HELP YOU OVERCOME THE TIMES. It is either you are “more than conquerors” or not; it is either you overcome or you are overcomed.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO IN TIMES LIKE THESE? In our old classic song, we are told some of the things we must do to overcome the times.
In times like these, we need an anchor (Hebrews 6:18-20). An anchor give stability to a ship during a stormy weather. Anchor your faith in Christ and his word.
In times like these, we need the help of our saviour. In life, we need either a divine helper or human helper in times of crisis (Psalm 119:147). We need to seek God in these PERILIOUS times.
In times like these, we need to fight the fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 6:11,12; 2 Kings. 4:8-37).
In times like these, we need to be rooted in the Word of God. We must learn to draw comfort from the word of God in times of adversity ( Psalm 119:50,143). Don’t just read the word, meditate on the text and confess them in prayers (Eg Psalm 27:13,14).
In times like these, we need to stand on the promises of God. The third stanza of the popular hymn, “Stand up stand up for Jesus, YE soldiers of the Cross…” reads thus: “Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!, stand in his strength alone, the arm of flesh will fail you – YE dare not trust your own. Put on the gospel armour, And, watching unto prayer, where duty calls, or danger, be never wanting there.”
We need to persevere in faith in times like these. Child of God, don’t give up, you are at the brink of a miracle. In Ephesians 6:10-13, Paul enjoins us to be strong in the Lord. Then in verse 13, he gives this command, “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
We need to constantly renew our strength in the Lord in times like these (Proverbs 24:20; Psalm 84:5-7). Only the weak fail in times of adversity. Those who renew their strength daily in God overcome hard times.
We need to hold fast the confession of our faith (Hebrews 10:23). Stop confessing negative ideas. Words are powerful in the realm of the Spirit. God created this material word with words. Confess the word of God. Confess the picture of hope God has created in your heart and what you find in the word of God.
Times like these, we need to pray like we never did. In the old hymn, “Christian seek not yet repose…”, the last stanza of that hymn reads, “Watch, as if on that alone, hung the issue of the day, pray, that help may be sent down, watch and pray.”
Desperate times calls for desperate prayers. The cold, lukewarm and stale kind of prayers cannot see us through the present times. We need more fervency, more determination and persistent faith in our prayers.
May we seek for God in these PERILIOUS times and may we walk with him.
