In the midst of the Storm

Many Christians, when reading scripture, can but only imagine the things that will happen as Jesus second coming approaches. For example that moment when Christians will be confronted and asked to deny the lordship of God in their lives. What would you do? If you are like me, I see that moment as a Katnis Everdeen moment. If you have seen the movie, or read the Hunger Games books, you know what I mean: a moment of pride mixed with rebellion, and hunger for justice. However I honestly have had to ask the Lord to help me change these feelings. Why? Well, as I ponder up on the word I see that these are not the reasons why He wants me to stand firm: He wants me to do it out of the love I have for Him and understanding what He has done for me; and frankly, in these times it takes much less to declare the Lord publicly. What I mean is that our society is so corrupt that the minimum thing you do that doesn't go according to the norm, destabilizes everything. People start asking questions, judging, calling you names, etc. Back in Rome, there was an ancient custom to burn incense to a statue of the emperor as a sign of respect as a god, and as a confession of faith to him; Paul was advising the Romans not to do this, for in doing this they will be denying the work of God in their lives (Rom. 10: 9-11). I can imagine what they were doing to their faithful Christians; I don't think they were only calling then names!

Recently, I read that the Grammy Awards were the center of blasphemy, as every televised show has become. Luckily there was someone representing in the midst of the storm: Natalie Grant, who was nominated for two Grammys that night in Gospel. She did what many hadn't had the guts to do: get up and leave! See, something so simple can make a statement. Not only that, but when asked about why she left, she only responded by saying she was very happy she belonged to the Lord! Again, if you have the same level of craziness as me, you always think of the awesome situations you can encounter to "pride in the Lord", but it could be much simpler than that, and it could be now: By leaving when people around you are having unedifying conversations, by not laughing at inappropriate jokes, by refusing to watch what you know shouldn't watch, and listen only to what you know is beneficial. At the end we can just say: "I'm so glad I'm Christian"

https://twitter.com/NatalieGrant