The End Times: Three Reasons I'm not Scared

Have you ever been scared of when people talk about prophecies being fulfilled? I mean, besides the prophetic book of Revelation being a bit confusing at times, the text also talks about some pretty scary things. Which is probably why we don't ever want to think about it. We tend to push it aside and would rather be frightened of horror movies, because well, they aren't real. Though the Bible does talk about real horrors that will happen right before Jesus comes, here are three reasons to not be afraid. 

1. It's really about the fight against fear

One reason why you might be scared is Revelation 13. This chapter is one of the prophecies that points to the a religious system using the symbolism of a beast. This corrupt system, put in place by the dragon himself, A.K.A Satan (Rev. 12:9;13:4), will be used to persecute God's people. It makes sense why this scares people, because who wants to be tortured and killed because they are right? However, even if you just skim through the rest of Revelation up until chapter 20, the book actually talks about how Jesus will defeat both the evil beast and Satan. That scary beast takes up about a chapter in Revelation. Jesus' battles over this beast takes up 6 chapters, which is almost a quarter of the book. In other words, Revelation is less about the persecution of God's people than it is about God fighting for His people. 

2. Ending is sometimes a good thing
Should the world end and Jesus comes back, do you know what this means? We will be in a world with "no more death, nor, sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3,4). We won't have WW3. Donald Trump won't be president. Pollution is going to stop. No more planning for retirement. No one is going to steal your stuff. You will never have to bury your dead. There will be no suicides, no rapes, no one will be homeless, everyone will be fed. God is really wanting to end this suffering, for He takes no pleasure in death or in our dying (Ezekiel 18:32).

3.  The Way of escape

1 Corinthians 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you except as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you will be able to bear it."

If we are going to be persecuted for following Jesus, you bet the temptation to ditch Him would be great. But the awesome thing about this verse is that it reminds us that God won't even bring this time of trouble until His people are able to overcome. If you really believe that these prophecies are coming true, then guess what? God's people are continuing to escape temptation through The Way. We are learning to turn to Him in every needing moment in our lives. To put this in perspective, Jesus says in Luke 15 that there is joy in heaven when someone turns back to Him!

You see in reality, if you honestly believe this earth is coming to the end because of the Bible, the comfort of not being scared is not the only thing you have. You also have immense joy knowing God is fighting for you, preparing a place for you, and ultimately drawing you and your friends closer to Him.