Tribulations

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 5. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 2 Thes 1:4,5

Since beginning this blog back in March 2010 the amount of tribulations that I have experienced seems to be steadily increasing. For example just in the last few months I have had 4 viruses, I was cheated out of $1000 plus from a fellow Christian, had a car window smashed or shot out, my credit card was hacked, pellet stove broke, have had many sicknesses in my household, plus other things I will not mention. And just two days ago within hours of posting Is the Rapture Imminent? I had 2 immediate family members come down with high fevers and an hour after that I was taking another family member back from the doctor for a recheck on pneumonia and the spark plug blew out of my Ford requiring it to be towed to the shop for a costly repair. (Just found out it is an all to common problem with some Ford engines--they will be getting a letter!).

Now these things are not really all that bad--like what some may be experiencing such as cancer, loss of job, house foreclosures, deaths in the family, prison, etc. But for me they have been very trying and at times overwhelming because many things happened all at once.

In experiencing these things I began wondering; was I doing something wrong--was God punishing me? I felt that these tribulations were related to the blogging. On several occasions things got so intense I was ready to just shut the whole thing down, but many people have encouraged me and thanked me for helping them understand various end times truths. I sought the Lord in prayer and beseeched Him about these things willing to do whatever He wanted me to do.

I shared my difficulties with a few people who helped me to get a handle on the whole situation. Here is my conclusion; When you stand for the truth of God's Word tribulation will come your way. I also believe that the tribulations will increase more and more as we see the day drawing near but so will God's Spirit.

I tell you these things because maybe for some of you since you may have begun believing the truth about certain end times topics, and sharing it with others, you have had an increase in tribulations too. So take heart because it "is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God." We also know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to those called according to His purpose. So if God allows it in our life He will use it for our good.

I also tell you these things because I need your prayers for God to encourage me, strengthen me, protect me and my family, and guide me in the His perfect will. So when you read this blog if you could remember to say a little prayer for me and my family I would really appreciate it.

So I also ask your prayers for God to speak through me in putting the data together in a coherent easily understandable format and that satan would not be allowed to hinder me in the work.