The final chapter of Daniel predicts “a troubled time” for God’s people. The prophecy seems to foretell the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. But maybe the emotion stirred by Daniel’s vision is more important to the reader than the information revealed in it.
Distress affects all of us in different ways. Some of us feel anxious and panicky. Others feel irritable or depressed. But Jesus has a gift for us – if we will receive it.
King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that all his officials worship his idol, a tall golden image set up on the plain of Dura. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused – and that meant death. Their trust in God challenges us to make faithful choices when the state punishes righteous behavior.
What will we do in heaven – stand around God’s throne endlessly singing hymns? Will eternal life be an interminable worship service? The Bible says otherwise.
In the Garden of Eden, God asked the man, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). In times of trouble, we have the same question for Him.
The first psalm describes the man blessed by God. He is like a tree planted by streams of water. But the wicked are like chaff blown away by the wind
It felt like the worst day in their lives. Cleopas and his companion walked along the road to Emmaus, discussing the cross and looking sad. And then Jesus himself joined the two disciples (Luke 24:13-35)
Paul was in a Roman dungeon. Soon he would be executed. So he wrote a letter to his young friend Timothy and encouraged him to remain strong in spite of the persecution threatening the church. In the postscript of that letter, Paul made his final request.
If you were on death row for an unjust reason, what would you need from your friends? I’d need lots of encouragement. But in the opening lines of his final letter, a letter written in a Roman dungeon, Paul is the one giving the encouragement.
David says that men and women are weak, sinful, and transient. Sounds sort of depressing. But David isn’t depressed. His reflections on human frailty lead him to exuberant praise (Ps. 103:1-22).