When Israel knew war was upon them, God promised safety to those who would trust Him. Many decided to take matters into their own hands and flee on horseback to Egypt. But the Lord said… “In returning and resting (on Me) shall you be saved; in quietness (calmness) and in confidence shall be your strength.” The Lord knew what they did not - Egypt would be conquered too, but far more fatally than Israel. Those who listened to the Lord survived.
Distress makes us want to flee. There was a time when people longing for freedom and justice could run to Christian countries and find it, but no longer. There is nowhere on this planet to flee from oppression – the only place left to go is Up.
While our global oppressors get bolder in their coup, and smugly pat each other on the back for the fabulous success of their well-laid schemes, they forget God’s words to Pharaoh, “For this cause have I raised you up, to show My power in you, that My name may be declared throughout the whole earth” (Exodus 9:16).
While we await the Rapture, Jesus added another dimension to our calm confidence – cheerfulness. “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The Bible reminds us that our confidence is a warning to the wicked… “In nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of (their coming) perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God” (Philippians 1:28). We know how things end!
This is the moment all the ages before us have anticipated and watched for. We’re holding our breath on the edge of eternity. We know in Whom we have believed. Be calm. Be confident. Be of good cheer.
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