His Encouragement #177

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, He knows those who take refuge in Him.
Nahum 1:7 (ESV)

I love Nahum 1:7. It brings me such comfort.

I love that it begins with a perfect Truth: God is good. Yes, God is absolutely good. He blesses His kids abundantly and His mercies are new every morning. Plus, He allowed His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). I don’t know anything more GOOD than to have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The day of trouble is an inevitability. The seven-year tribulation is coming. Yes, we all have different theories about how it’s coming, when it starts, when it ends, and who will be most affected by it, BUT the bottom line is that “the day of trouble” is coming … and I’m fairly confident it’s coming soon. Knowing this, isn’t it GOOD that God is our stronghold? Isn’t it a truly wonderful blessing that God will protect us in the day of trouble?

BTW, I’m not denying the rapture. I do believe that the rapture is intended for Jesus’s Bride and that this group of people will be taken before the real troubles of the tribulation occur. But I believe that the Bride is a very small, very blessed group of people. There is only ONE church that is told by Jesus that they will be kept “from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10). That church is Philadelphia. The Bride has little power on earth, has kept God’s Word (Torah), has never denied Jesus’s Name, and has patiently endured (Revelation 3:8, 10). If you belong to this “church,” I believe you may be part of the Bride. Personally, I pray daily that I may have the strength to escape all these things coming and be included in the Bride (Luke 1:36).

Back to Nahum 1:7.

The final aspect to this verse that I love so much is that God knows. God knows HIS true believers. He knows those who really do take refuge in Him. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to actually do it. When BAD things happen — what is your first reaction? Do you scream at God? Do you throw your fists at Him? Do you grumble and complain like the ancient Israelites did in the Wilderness? Or do you run to Jesus and cry? Do you give Him all your pain and suffering? Do you talk to Him, or do you turn from Him in anger? To those who turn to Him in days of trouble, God knows, and He is there for us. BUT, what about the regular days — the days that seem to be insignificant? Do you turn to Jesus then, too? Because I believe the key to taking refuge in God is being the kind of person who turns to God every day whether that day is a good day, a bad day, or a meh day. Taking refuge in God means to have a real relationship with Him every single second of every single day. And trust me, God knows if we do or do not.