2024: Embrace the Wait

2024: Embrace the Wait - By Lisa Heaton - https://www.raptureready.com/2024/01/09/2024-embrace-the-wait-by-lisa-heaton/ I seriously thought we would be out of here in 2020, then in 2021 and 2022 and 2023. Yet here we are, still waiting and longing and hoping. Might 2024 be the year? Or willwe be called to endure another year, God’s gift of time offered to this lost and dying world? If another year is required of us, how might we better embrace the waiting? I admit I’m not the best at waiting patiently. I’m guessing you’re not either. If you’re anything like me, you’ve done more complaining than embracing along the way. How canwe not with the sorrow and turmoil we experience in our families and in this world? Some days, I find it hard to view our extended time here as we wait for the Lord as an opportunity for the lost rather than a burden to the found. I’m burdened. Every. Single.Day. I host a group on Zoom for rapture watchers. Folks from all over the U.S. meet to discuss last-days topics (You’re always invited. Seemore here). Last week, Nancy (aka my mom) closed us out in prayer. She thanked the Lord for our time here (on earth) and even asked that He leave us a little while longerto reach the lost. Jokingly, I told her we were kicking her off the prayer team for asking for more time. But deep down, her prayer struck a nerve with me. It’s something I’ve written about a few times: how they, the lost, are worth our extended time here.I know we all “know” that, but it’s still a tough prayer to pray. So thanks, Mom, for praying from your heart and piercing mine. I wasn’t the only one to carry this thought over to the next day. Kim L. from our group posted in the Gathering Telegram channel about how Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians10 of Israel’s mistakes in the wilderness, how God had saved them, yet most of them had not pleased Him. One of the ways they had tried the Lord was that they “became impatient because of the journey” (Numbers 21). Kim went on to say: “This brought to mind something said last night, the reminder that God still has us here for a purpose, to serve Him and trust Him, that others might be saved. Even in ourlonging for His appearing, may we, may I, not become impatient and complain. Our whole eternity, our rewards, hinge upon this journey.” That sounds a little too familiar. I, like Israel, have become “impatient because of the journey” and complain a little too often along the way. I think most of us rapturewatchers can be found guilty of grumbling and complaining at times as our sufferings only increase, and we cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!” We long to go home to be with Him, and rightly so. I don’t intend to try and make us feel guilty for our longing to be with Jesus. We’re told in 2 Timothy 4:8 that there is reserved a crown of righteousness “to all who haveloved His appearing.” Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Each day, with every headline that only reminds us of the ever-increasing wickedness of our world, our longings only increase. We’re not supposed to feel at home or at easehere. Of course, we say, “Come!” Those are scriptural proofs that our longings are justified. But even from an earthly perspective, we need only look at the anticipation of a bride who eagerly plans for andawaits her wedding day to validate our longing. Every day that passes, the bride attends to each little detail: the dress, the flowers, the food, and the guests. There isn’t a moment that passes that she doesn’t long for the wedding. As grand as the day willbe, it’s not the preparation or even the day she actually longs for; it’s about being joined together with her groom. Same with us. We long for our Groom. We know we can look for and long for His glorious appearing without guilt, yet how might we view His current delay from a perspective that will allow us to embrace the wait? I’ve been working on “how I wait” since 2020. Most of my journey, however, has often been focused on me not waiting in fear. The answer to that was found in Hebrews 12:2,for me to fix my eyes on Jesus and not on all the evil and what-ifs that could happen. Now, this current season of learning to embrace the wait without complaining brings this same passage back into view. The verse in its entirety adds an additional elementof depth from which to glean, “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” I have joy set before me, a wedding unrivaled by even the most elaborate royal wedding on earth. There’s a glorified body in my near future. I’ll have no more tears or achesor pains or worldly sorrows. Sin will finally have no place in my life. I’ll finally forever be with my Savior! Those joys set before me increase my eager anticipation of Jesus’ appearing, but they also tend to foster impatience and complaining on my partsince I want them now. It’s easy to forget the rest of verse 2, how, because of the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. I suspect I’m not the only believer who wants the joy without the cross. I’m not referring to our individual-to-us crosses. We all have them in increasing numbers these days. I want, instead, to focus on the one cross we do share: a slow-tickingclock. As evil increases with exponential quickness, our wait for that trumpet blast seems to be dragging by with excruciating slowness. Time feels like an enemy. The more time we’re here, the more we will see. We want our time to be up, our wait to be over. What if, however, our extended time here brings many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10)? I read an interesting article (2024:Black Swan Event Coming?) about how 2024 may bring a black swan event, one that will once again alter the course of our nation and the world. Included were excerpts froma CNN article, “How 2023 has been the’ year of the brink’ and 2024 could be worse.” Even a CNN reporter sees and admits that we are on the brink of catastrophe. If there is a black swan event, a crisis that changes the course of the world, maybe it will be the rapture. But what if it isn’t? What if it’s a natural disaster or globalwar or cyberattack or another pandemic? A friend recently posed the question: What if this event, whatever it may be, is the answer to our prayers? What if those we are praying for now come to salvation due to harder times—like massively hard times—ahead?Can’t we endure, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the harder times with them? These sobering thoughts and questions lead to our next answer in how to wait with patience and hopefully without complaining. We fix our eyes on people, those whom Jesus diedto save. “They,” the lost, really are worth our extended time here. Are you investing your time in praying for them and reaching out to those willing to listen? Are you using your time wisely in sharing the truth with other believers so that they may see theurgency to pray for and reach out to the lost in their lives? A phrase that’s been echoing in my head since long before 2020 was, write, Lisa, write, and do not waste time. Even before 2020 showed me the nearness of the rapture, theSpirit within drove me to invest in the kingdom. I pray that same sense of urgency over us all now more than ever. What is your gift and calling? Whatever it is, insert that and your name into the italicized phrase above and live it out. We can’t have muchlonger, so time really is of the essence. Every day that God tarries is His gift of mercy toward the lost and His attempt to save many from the coming destruction. He isn’t running late or watching the clock. He’swaiting patiently for that last soul to open the door and bid Him come. Every lost and lonely heart matters to Him just as our once lost and lonely hearts mattered and kept Him waiting. That helps me embrace the wait, the reminder of His gift of patience with me. I really must have tried God’s patience over the years as I kept Him waiting, not for my salvationbut for my surrender. In remembering how His love for me was so patient and kind, can I not extend that same love toward others by patiently waiting for Him as He waits for them? “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patienttoward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Time isn’t the enemy. It’s an evangelistic tool given to each of us as the clock is running down. In knowing that, whatever God has given you the heart to do, do it with allyour heart. Serve the coming King with all you’ve got. While this isn’t a topic I have time to explore in this article, consider once more Kim’s words I shared above, “Our whole eternity, our rewards, hinge upon this journey.” What we see as the slow passing of time is more than a gift of mercy to the lost. This time is a gift to us as well, one we shouldn’t want to escape, considering our rewards in heaven will be dependent upon our well-serving the King here on earth. “Let usnot lose heart in doing good” (Galatians 6:9). For the record, I know I’ll complain on occasion. You will, too. Whether we’re given the gift of one month in 2024 or twelve, embrace the wait, fixing your eyes on Jesus andon people while still crying out, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” If you would like to consider the topic further, feel free to check out our small-group discussion questions for the Gathering in PDF form here. Embracing with you, Lisa --------------------------------------- Prophetic Mega-Trends Reshaping Our World In 2024 � By Mark Hitchcock - https://harbingersdaily.com/prophetic-mega-trends-reshaping-our-world-in-2024/ AI, China�s impact on global events, upcoming elections, major developments in Israel, and many more events are shaping the world in 2024. I would like to provide a briefoverview of what I consider �six mega-trends� for the upcoming year, which carry important prophetic significance. #1 � Artificial Intelligence The first prophetic mega-trend that I see is AI. Artificial intelligence has really come on the scene in a dramatic way over the last year, but it�s going to continue to accelerateinto a mushroom as we go into 2024. All the things that come from AI will be tools that will be used by the Antichrist. It�s clear that he�ll come and exploit this kind of technology in his domination of theworld; therefore, it�s important to keep up to date on what is happening in the development of AI. #2 � China�s Impact On Global Events China, I believe, will be the leader of the kings of the East, mentioned in Revelation 16, that will be part of the campaign of Armageddon. Just in the last few days, the country has been talking about the reunification of China, which means taking Taiwan and making it part of the communist regime. Many people believe that China right now is sensing US weakness. They look ahead to next November, when someone else could be elected into office, and believe that China isgoing to seize the opportunity between now and the elections to attack Taiwan. This is something that we have to keep our eyes on. The elections this coming year are a huge issue that will determine, in many ways, our country�s future. China could very well act this year, maybe early in the year, becausethey�re sensing US weakness and take Taiwan, just as Russia has invaded Ukraine. #3 � Digital Currencies Another prophetic mega-trend is digital currencies, which are paving the way to the one-world economy of the Antichrist. #4 � Narratives Surrounding Climate Change Another point that we often overlook is climate change. Climate change is being grossly over-exaggerated to exert greater control over people�s lives. Just last month, theCOP28 annual UN Climate Change Conference was held in Dubai. Climate change is being whipped up constantly as an �existential crisis� for the world�and that�s simply not true. I recently read a book on climate change called �False Alarm.� The author actually believes in climate change and that human beings contribute to that through carbon dioxide,but says it�s massively over-exaggerated. According to the author, if America shuts down all fossil fuels today, it would only lower the temperature by a mere .3� Fahrenheit by 2100. What we see again is that the creation of a crisis can bring about compliance and gain control. That is what climate change is, and it�s paving the way for the global controlthat we will see exercised by the Antichrist. #5 � Russia The fifth prophetic mega-trend is Russia. An article this week stated that Russia�s ties with Israel are at the lowest point since the fall of the Soviet Union. Another articlecalled it the �end of a friendship� between Israel and Russia. Russia has chosen to align itself with the Palestinians in this Israel-Gaza war. As a result, their relationship with Israel is at a near all-time low. This development pointstoward the future war described in Ezekiel 38-39. #6 � Israel and the Middle East Finally, the most important and significant mega-trend is Israel and the Middle East. This is the flashing red light. We are more than 90 days into the Israel-Gaza war, and recent events that are happening in Israel could cause this conflict to explode into a wider battle. Israel�s mission to hunt down Hamas is stoking fears of an escalation of this war. On Tuesday, Israel assassinated the person that many believed to be the number two leaderof Hamas. Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon, and was the linchpin of relations between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah. Of course, this has been decried by Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, and others, but Israel has vowed to neutralize�a nice word for assassinate�the leaders of Hamas, tracking themdown wherever they are, even after the war is over. Most of them can be found in Lebanon, Qatar, and Turkey. Last week, an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed a senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, showing Israel is also assassinating leaders from Iran as well. Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the American drone attack in Iraq, ordered by President Trump, that killed the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran had scheduleda big ceremony in commemoration of Soleimani on Wednesday morning. However, on the road to the cemetery, two explosions changed their plans and killed approximately 100 people. Blame for this has not yet been assigned. Iran has called it a terrorist attack. Certainly, Israel could have been behind this, but it may have been Sunni Muslims attackingthe Shiites in Iran; we may never know. Nevertheless, all of this is stoking fears of escalation. Meanwhile, Turkey has just arrested 33 People who were suspected of being Mossad agents, which is essentially Israel�s version of the CIA. Turkey believes they�ve uncoveredan Israeli spy ring and are looking for 13 more individuals they insist have links to Mossad. Turkey has said very clearly that if Israel attacks any Hamas leaders on Turkish soil, there will be serious consequences. They have also stepped up their support for Gazasince October 7th. The Spark That Ignites The Fuse Iran is obviously a veteran enemy of Israel, but we can also now see Russia and Turkey�s relationship with Israel deteriorating. These are the three key players in the Ezekiel38 invasion. All three of these relationships with Israel have come to an all-time low. This area of the world today is experiencing a series of pinprick attacks that constantly put more and more gas on the fire. Behind all of this, you have the Israel-Gaza warthat shows no signs of dwindling. Add to that what�s happening over in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are firing at American warships, and Iranian warships now entering the Red Sea. All of these different events, or the combination of them, could easily be the spark that ignites the fuse to blow up this Middle East powder keg and can so easily precipitatethe war of Ezekiel 38. Over the last few weeks, I read a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called �The Great Disappearance.� He opens the book with these words: �You and I are privileged to stand on the cresting waves of prophecy, to live in a time closer to the return of Jesus Christ than any other generation in the history of theworld. We sense the nearness of His return; we see the signs of the times; we know the world is reaching a climactic point of unparalleled crisis.� I think we all sense that. And it should lead all of us to say, Even so, come Lord Jesus. -----------------------------------