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The truth about war is that, a majority of the time, it comes unexpectedly. We are living our lives, our minds consumed by thoughts of our daily activities. Then, at a moments notice, our country goes to war, destroying the plans and goals that we might have had for the future, and completely derailing any potential formula that we had to ensure our success. We find ourselves in fear, wondering, "What’s next?” What’s next for our families? What’s next for ourselves? What’s next for our careers?
The truth is that the world is filled with differing morals and values, greed, and ambition. So, the potential threat of war will always exist. No one knows what tomorrow may hold except for God. If we agree with this statement, then we should sit and ask ourselves, Why am I not informed of the future if my Father knows it?
The truth is, we have no insight on the war going on outside because we're too distracted by the war within ourselves. The body of Christ has become so bogged down by the cares of this world that those same cares are the reason we are uninformed like everyone else in this world.
"Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless." - Mark 4:19 AMPC
When we look at scripture, it was the men and women of faith that kept their eyes on God who were able to escape from disaster and the consequences of a nation's disobedience to God.
"For if God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but threw them into hell and sent them to pits of gloom to be kept [there] for judgment; and if He did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought [the judgment of] a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was tormented by the immoral conduct of unprincipled and ungodly men (for that just man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by what he saw and heard of their lawless acts), then [in light of the fact that all this is true, be sure that] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the corrupt passions of the sin nature, and despise authority. Presumptuous and reckless, self-willed and arrogant [creatures, despising the majesty of the Lord], they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties," - 2 Peter 2:4-10 AMP
What I have realized is that we treat an encounter with God the way I treated getting a sticker after a dentist appointment as a kid. The sticker symbolized proof that the stains on my teeth were removed, but without proper maintenance, it wasn't long before I had to schedule another appointment. Similarly, we may have proof of our experience with God, but as time goes on, the filth and cares of this world strip away our knowledge and encounter with Christ to where our souls are left just as dirty as before.
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world by [personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have [personally] known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to have turned back from the holy commandment [verbally] handed on to them. The thing spoken of in the true proverb has happened to them, 'The dog returns to his own vomit,' and, 'A sow is washed only to wallow [again] in the mire.'” - 2 Peter 2:20-22 AMP
A majority of us believers don’t know how God feels about any given situation because we don’t take the time to ask Him. How effective would the body of Christ be in preventing or avoiding catastrophe if we dedicated every day of our lives to becoming a living sacrifice for God, with His purpose, mission and vision on our minds daily? Unless we can declutter our mind from this world and all of its distractions, we will continue to be left uninformed of the disastrous events that God knew about before the foundations of the world.
"Now as to the times and dates, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord is coming just as a thief [comes unexpectedly and suddenly] in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety [all is well and secure!]” then [in a moment unforeseen] destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains on a woman with child, and they will absolutely not escape [for there will be no way to escape the judgment of the Lord]. But you, believers, [all you who believe in Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as God’s Son] are not in spiritual darkness [nor held by its power], that the day [of judgment] would overtake you [by surprise] like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We do not belong to the night nor to darkness. So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and let us be sober [self-controlled, calm, and wise]. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we [believers] belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope and confident assurance of salvation. For God has not destined us to [incur His] wrath [that is, He did not select us to condemn us], but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 AMP
Question of the day: How could we ever see that there is a war brewing outside if we haven’t first won the war that’s raging on the inside?