PREPARED FOR THE FINAL TRUMPETS

Nahum 1:1-3:19; Revelation 8:1-13; Psalm 136:1-26; Proverbs 30:7-9

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.”

“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.”

“He remembered us in our weakness. His love endures forever. He freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever. He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”

“…Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

The Lord is not going to wait forever. At some time, the seals will be broken, the trumpets will sound, and the Great Tribulation will begin. It will not be a time for the faint of heart. Nor will it be a time for people who do not know themselves. There will be no more positive self-talk. The time for self-delusion will be past. Judgment will be imminent, but first, there will be a trial by fire. And by locusts. And by all manner of supernatural horrors. Such things will reveal the true natures of those who remain to face them. It will not be a happy time. With any luck, we won’t be here to experience it.

But what if we are? The question bores a hole straight through our self-confidence. That is, it does if we are wise. If we are otherwise, we disregard the warnings of Scripture. We convince ourselves it’s all fiction, the fantasy of a religious zealots and exiled outcasts. Still, the mere possibility of truth in their prophetic words raises goosebumps down our spines. The imagery in John the Revelator’s journal is stunning. If it was imagined, it was rendered with an uncanny depth and breadth and vision. If it is true, then….

We can play the “is it true or is it not” game until the Lord does come again, and it will profit us nothing. There is no point in wasting time. Christ invites us to decide now what we are going to put our faith in: Scripture, or our own sense of pragmatism and realism. We can decide not to prepare for the Second Coming, but if we are wrong, it is likely to be a decision we will regret for eternity. We also have the chance to go ahead and prepare for our Lord’s Return as an act of faith and worship, and if we do not live to see the Rapture, at worst, we will be that much closer to God when we pass from this life to the next. It seems a no brainer. Prepare. Get ready. Then, take heart from the fact that if we’re ready for the Second Coming, we will truly be ready for anything.

Life is full of opportunities missed because those granted them were not prepared to take advantage of the chances they were given. On the other hand, those who work to prepare themselves fully for whatever life may throw at them tend to be the ones who succeed even when the odds are against them. My daughter recently graduated from college and began the ritual of the job hunt… at probably the worst possible time since the 1930s. Even teachers are having a hard time finding jobs. Her college said there’d be no problem. They could not have been more wrong. Initially, my daughter just did the usual things: cover letters, resumes, calls to friends for recommendations and references. Nothing worked. There just weren’t any openings for PE teachers right out of college. She resisted the idea of diversification until there was obviously no other choice. Finally, after one interviewer made a point of encouraging her to broaden her experience and qualifications, she took some additional qualifying tests so she could actually teach a variety of subjects. Within literally a matter of just a day or two after getting her new certifications, my daughter received a call for an interview. Three hours after the interview, she was hired as an English teacher and coach of girl’s volleyball and track. This was no coincidence. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit but also a gift she had prepared herself to receive.

We can deny the reality of the Second Coming and pretend we have nothing to worry about. We may even kid ourselves into thinking that God will protect us from ourselves. But it is not true. At some point, unless we are prepared to follow Christ into His Kingdom, we will find ourselves on the outside looking in. Then, the one thing we can be sure of is that we will be quite a long distance from where we will want to be when the Final Trumpets do begin to blow.