Swearing? or Praying? What’s your response to danger?
Picture this. You’re late for work and driving a little too fast for the road conditions. You’re going around a corner onto a bridge and you suddenly start fishtailing out of control. What do you do? Do you swear or do you pray?
No one enjoys being in life-threatening situations, it’s terrifying. Fear, however, is actually a divine gift. It has two purposes:
- Fear reveals what is in the heart.
- Fear provides an opportunity for faith to develop and grow.
How a person responds to fear depends entirely on what is in the heart.
TIME TO DECIDE!
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14 NKJV)
There are 3 groups of people in the world today:
- Those who are loyal to Yah;
- Those who have sided with Satan in his rebellion against Yah;
- And those who haven’t yet made their final decision
Ultimately, only 2 classes of people will exist in the end: those loyal to Yahweh and those in rebellion against Him. Yahweh uses fear to let us know what is hidden in the deepest recesses of our hearts so that we can prepare for the dangers ahead.
THE SIN RESPONSE
So how do you respond when your plane hits turbulence, the overhead luggage bin opens and the oxygen masks fall? What is your reaction when a terrorist opens fire in the mall in which you are shopping? What do you do when your child runs into the street centimeters from a speeding truck? Do you panic or do you pray?
These aren’t just rhetorical questions. Revelation reveals that the mark of the beast will be enforced on pain of death! How we respond to danger now reveals how we will respond to danger then. The very threat of danger can be enough to lead anyone who wants to cling to sin to give up his or her principles and to compromise. Compromise then becomes your response to the threat of danger. If compromise has been your habit, you will not be able to stand firm for truth when death is the price for faithfulness.
The act of compromising ALWAYS leads to sin! Of course, when a person enjoys the sin and doesn’t wish to make a full surrender, this is what he or she is wanting. The problem is when we continue to sin, even after being convicted that it is wrong, sin starts to lose its sinfulness. This is the mind’s natural response to cognitive dissonance. We feel uncomfortable when our actions do not agree with our beliefs. Consequently, when a person doesn’t want to change his actions to agree with his beliefs, he is left with one alternative: He changes his beliefs to allow for the actions he doesn’t wish to give up. This will eventually lead him to commit the unpardonable sin. It is not that Yahweh suddenly stops drawing or convicting the heart, it’s simply that the heart becomes insensitive to the gentle leading of His Spirit and this inevitably hardens the conscience.
THE FAITH RESPONSE
A person who wants to honor and obey Yahweh will have a much different reaction to danger. Yes, he’s afraid, but that fear drives him to the Father rather than away. The response of faith is to trust Yah’s love and claim His promise of protection. When a person does this habitually, it becomes his automatic reaction to danger or threat.
David said; “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In Yah (I will praise His Word), In Yah I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56:3,4 NKJV)
If you get to know Yahweh on a personal level, you will, when afraid, trust Him to work all things out for good. You will look at times in the past when Yahweh has delivered you or others. This will encourage you to claim God’s promises for your current emergency. Then as you claim the promises, Yahweh will keep them and deliver you. In your own life you will begin to see and experience miracles for yourself.
Gratitude for blessings received will always awaken love in your heart for our Father, Yahweh. Love in turn produces faith and trust. This is why Yahweh allows bad things to happen to good people. It’s not so that they will suffer, it’s so their faith in Him and their confidence in His love for them will grow. As their faith grows, their gratitude and love grow, which only increases their faith. It’s an incredibly beautiful cycle of God’s undeserved kindness (grace).
THE DANGER AHEAD
In the days ahead, Yahweh’s people will see every earthly support cut off. When the mark of the beast is enforced, you will have one of two options:
- Compromise your beliefs to obtain temporal security and receive the mark.
- Refuse the mark of the beast at the risk of imprisonment or death.
Only those who have made it a habit to trust in Yahweh under all circumstances will have the faith to stay true then.
Fear is a gift! It lets us know when we’re in danger. It alerts us to the need to turn to Yah for help. When we do this then His Spirit will raise up a standard against the enemy in our defense.
“So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of Yahweh will lift up a standard against him. The redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, “ says Yahweh.
“As for Me,” says Yahweh, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says Yahweh , “from this time and forevermore. (Isaiah 59:19-21)
A tsunami of evil is coming. Will you curse and compromise? Or will you pray and claim Yahweh’s promise and trust in Him to protect you?
Loving Yahweh with Heart, Soul and Strength 