One of our elders asks me almost every Sunday, “Do you think we are living in the end times?” The disasters and troubles in Church, nation and world seem intractable and divine intervention seems called for. However, when you look at the Bible you find that God’s people frequently experience disasters and troubles. Scholars have a hard time dating exactly when the Book of Joel was written because the disasters he describes could have occurred at many junctures in Israel’s history. His warning about the action of God could apply to many points in time. Alas, the day! for near is the day of the LORD, and it comes as ruin from the Almighty. No matter what we are going through our response has to remain the same: trust in God. The God who brought us this far by faith is not about to abandon us now. If we stay faithful, God will be even more faithful.
