By Fenter Northern
Patience and hope. That’s what we need in this day of bafflement and fearfulness for future existence on this planet. What do we Christians need in such unsettled times in a world, not of just non-Christian, but growing militantly anti-Christian? Where values are being turned upside down so that what was lovely and good yesterday have become ugly and bad, and the ugly and bad are being championed by violent advocates determined to have their way.
We Christians thirst for the strength and energy to abide such times forced upon us as aliens in this strange world. The most relevant realized by us weak ones, is to drink deeply from the fountain of life in this parched desert of ungodliness. It is the ever-available excelsior of life flowing in this arid land bleached blank with its sordid values; yet, because of its love for evil, the world is blinded to the healing waters for its terminal illness, though its stumbles over it.
What are some of the essential ingredients needed to strengthen God’s children facing adverse times? This may be observed in the visit of the celestial being sent to Daniel, a man of God, struggling in an awesome anti-God environment. This is what he said:
“He said, O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you
have strengthened me.” Dan 10:19.
He needed courage– “fear not;”
Peace, “peace be with you;”
Power – “be strong, yea, be strong.”
FEAR: Multitudes do not measure up to their level best in troubled times like these. Me too. The main hindrance it seems is fear -fearful of tomorrow, the unknown, disease, aging, and death. It’s all about us, and yet, those who are unaware of these fears are in in the clutches of them, limiting the excellence of life. But the fountain flows for the thirsty with this: “Though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, we will not fear;” — or when, as I have, on visiting the dying the hospital or the aged inform in the rest homes, who have no profitable future, and knowing that, have a smile and peaceful face I know they have reached the reward of faith without fear.
PEACE: This is the second result of those greatly beloved of God. “Peace be unto you.” Worry can consume your energies until you cannot function. It dominates your thinking and saps efficiency in daily life. You never feel you are up to whatever is before you. Self-confidence has vanished, and peace has evaporated from your mind. Who would dare say they have not experienced such moments sometime in life? Certainly, not I. While I could not point to absolute immunity to this, I do think of Perpetua, the early martyr, on the day this Christian lady was to face the wild beasts, said to her keeper, “This is the day of my coronation.” I also think of Jan Crane, a young lady dying of cancer in the hospital, who said to me two days before her death with a peace on her face that defied description, “Brother Northern, I have learned how to pray. I pray not to be healed any more, but for God to give me strength to bear whatever.” I used these touching words in preparing her funeral.
Power: “Be strong, yea, be strong.” This is the maturity of the Christian’s call. It is the strength that God puts in those pure in heart to endure when they are about to cross the bridge of no return. It is more than reading the text that says there is a crown of life laid up for you – it is feeling that truth down in your soul because God who cannot lie says it waits for you.