I refuse to be a Christian pessimist. Here are three
reasons why I can face the future with hope.
Terrorist
bombings. Middle East turmoil. $3.95 gas. Killer floods. Moral breakdown.
Fragile economies.
No
wonder Charlie Sheen is going crazy!
Seriously,
there’s a lot of bad news out there. Negative headlines make people fearful,
agitated, addicted or even sick. But from what I’ve read in my Bible,
Christians should not freak out every time a gloomy cloud settles over us. We,
of all people on earth, should be full of hope.
A few days ago a friend asked me what I thought about a
prophecy from a well-known Christian leader. This man has predicted a financial
collapse in the United States by sometime next year. Other Christians have
foreseen terrorist attacks, assassinations, bread lines and even the total
breakdown of society. My friend asked me: “What are you hearing from the Lord
about the future?”
“I’m not saying wicked people won’t get worse,
or that we should adopt a Pollyanna worldview that ignores the threat of evil.
But please read your Bible! We win!”
I’m
not a fancy guy, and I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of the
federal deficit or the real meaning behind “climate change.” I’m not privy to
what al-Qaida is doing inside the United States or who is pulling the strings
behind the protests in Yemen, Libya or Bahrain. (And I’m not sure our lawmakers
in Washington understand these things either.)
But
I do know the Bible is a book of hope—and the last book of the Bible (which is
often viewed as pure doom and gloom) is actually a message of triumph. Recently
I’ve been finding comfort and encouragement in Revelation. Here’s what I know
about the future based on the apostle John’s amazing vision:
1.
Jesus will remain on His throne. Revelation opens with a glorious vision of the
triune God on His throne (see 1:4-6) and it ends with a scene of the restored
Eden—with a river flowing from God’s throne (see 22:1-2). The Bible does not
end with gloom or destruction. It ends with restoration and grace. This is
God’s ultimate plan for us.
Never lose sight of the throne. You can bank on it. It is
solid and secure. No matter what the devil or sinful men devise—terror plots,
nuclear bombs, stock market crashes—in the end Jesus overrules the wicked. And
He has the last word: “Yes, I am coming quickly” (22:20).
2.
His kingdom will continue to advance. I know many Christians who have a Chicken Little
mentality. Like the faithless spies who were frightened by Canaan’s giants,
Christian pessimists view the world with a glass-half-empty perspective. They
focus on what the devil is doing rather than on how God is working by His
Spirit.
I
want to shake these people to wake them up. Look around! Missiologists
believe China will be a Christian nation by 2035. Churches are growing at
record rates in India and parts of Africa. Before long a wave of missionaries
from the developing world will descend on every unevangelized region of the
world. And I’m convinced one of the greatest spiritual awakenings in history
will take place in the Middle East.
I’m
not saying wicked people won’t get worse, or that banks won’t fail at times, or
that we should adopt a Pollyanna worldview that ignores the threat of evil. But
please read your Bible! We win!
God
is not the kind of builder who starts a project and then leaves it unfinished.
He was serious when He commissioned us to take the gospel to the whole world.
He will supply the grace, the manpower, the strategy and the funds to get the
job done. In the end, a “great multitude which no one could count” (7:9)—will
be redeemed by Christ. This hope stirs my heart every day and gives me the
strength to press on.
3.
His grace will see us through every challenge. The first Christians who
read John’s message in Revelation faced lions and gladiators in the coliseums
of Rome. Throughout history, Christians have been beheaded, hanged, stoned,
drawn-and-quartered, burned at the stake, tortured, starved in gulags, shot,
banished to work camps and denied human rights. Yet these people appear in the
book of Revelation. It says of them: “And they overcame [the devil] because of
the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did
not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11).
Please
don’t abandon your hope. Don’t let the headlines—whether on CNN or Fox
News—turn you into a Christian pessimist. If the martyrs of the ages can sing a
victory song, surely we can maintain our joy when we face the uncertainties of
our future.
J.
Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma.
You can find him on Twitter at leegrady. His newest book is 10 Lies Men Believe
(Charisma House), which you can order here.
