Silas
Beloved of All
The pain you describe is real and heavy, being worn down by cold accusations and verbal harshness from within your own family, and at the same time feeling pressed by alarming warnings you are hearing online about terror against Christians. It is understandable to feel shaken and even compelled to pass those warnings on.
Scripture helps make an important distinction that can bring some steadiness here. There is the persecution and tribulation that believers experience from a world that does not fear God, and there is the final judgment of God upon the world. They are not the same. Persecution comes from the world and its system. The judgment of God is something else entirely, and when it comes God will be completely righteous and fair in it. No one will be able to rightly accuse Him of injustice, it will be plain that His judgment is right.
That is why the apostle Paul wrote to reassure believers who were suffering heavy persecution that what they were going through was not the final day of the Lord. They were being persecuted, but that did not mean the great day of God's wrath had already come. In the same way, the hostility and accusations you are experiencing, painful as they are, are not a sign that God has abandoned you or that His final judgment is falling on you now. Persecution has never destroyed the true church. Often it refines faith and deepens love among believers, while God remains faithful to keep His own.
You can take comfort in how God deals with His people before judgment. Jesus and Peter both point to Lot as an example. Lot was not perfect, and his family was not perfect, yet in mercy God led him out and delivered the righteous before judgment fell on Sodom. The judgment was held back until Lot was safely out of danger. Scripture gives other pictures of the same care. Enoch was taken before the flood, Noah was kept safely through it, Daniel was preserved through the furnace. The point is that God knows how to deliver the righteous and to reserve the ungodly for the day of judgment. There is an impending judgment hanging over this world, but God knows how to put His people out of danger and to keep them. You do not need to live in sudden fear of being caught in His wrath. Proverbs says do not be afraid of sudden terror when it comes upon the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being taken.
Part of finding that confidence is learning the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and it is described as hating evil. That does not mean hating people, but hating what is evil and loving what is good, and establishing right judgment. When you look around and see people who do not fear God, who speak coldly and abusively, it is right to recognize that evil for what it is and to turn from it, without returning evil for evil. Abraham once said he feared for his life because surely the fear of God was not in that place. When the fear of God is absent, people can act cruelly, even in families. Your call is to fear God rather than fear people, to give glory to Him and worship Him as Creator, as the angel in Revelation proclaims when he says fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come.
That call to fear God also gives wisdom about prophetic warnings. It is true that God does nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets, and the prophet who has heard from God cannot help but speak. But Scripture also tells us to test every spirit and to measure every message by the Word of God. An online voice may speak with great urgency and use strong language about terrorism and coming judgment, but urgency alone does not prove a message is from God. If you feel compelled to pass something on, pause and test it. Is it grounded in Scripture rightly handled? Does it exalt Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation? Does it lead to fear of God, repentance, and hope, or only to constant dread and the spreading of fear? God does not want His people driven by compulsion to spread alarm, but to be sober, prayerful, and established in His Word.
For your situation, consider these steps before the Lord. Bring the hurt from your relative to God honestly in prayer, and ask Him to guard your heart from returning hatred for hatred. It is right to hate the evil of abusive speech while still praying for the person and seeking peace where possible. Where words are cold and verbally abusive, it is wise to set clear and calm boundaries, to limit exposure to harm, and to seek counsel from mature, Bible grounded believers who know you and can walk with you in person. Keep your attention on what God has clearly revealed in Scripture rather than on sensational claims. Let the Word shape your view of the future more than any streamer. And remember that God sees both your affliction and the accusations against you, and He will be righteous in all His dealings.
May the Lord give you confidence in Him today, keep you from fear of sudden terror, teach you to hate evil and love good, and deliver you as He delivered Lot, not because you are flawless but because He is merciful. May He quiet the compulsion to carry fear to others and instead fill your mouth with what is true and helpful, and may He guard your heart with His peace as you trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation and walk in His ways.
Scripture helps make an important distinction that can bring some steadiness here. There is the persecution and tribulation that believers experience from a world that does not fear God, and there is the final judgment of God upon the world. They are not the same. Persecution comes from the world and its system. The judgment of God is something else entirely, and when it comes God will be completely righteous and fair in it. No one will be able to rightly accuse Him of injustice, it will be plain that His judgment is right.
That is why the apostle Paul wrote to reassure believers who were suffering heavy persecution that what they were going through was not the final day of the Lord. They were being persecuted, but that did not mean the great day of God's wrath had already come. In the same way, the hostility and accusations you are experiencing, painful as they are, are not a sign that God has abandoned you or that His final judgment is falling on you now. Persecution has never destroyed the true church. Often it refines faith and deepens love among believers, while God remains faithful to keep His own.
You can take comfort in how God deals with His people before judgment. Jesus and Peter both point to Lot as an example. Lot was not perfect, and his family was not perfect, yet in mercy God led him out and delivered the righteous before judgment fell on Sodom. The judgment was held back until Lot was safely out of danger. Scripture gives other pictures of the same care. Enoch was taken before the flood, Noah was kept safely through it, Daniel was preserved through the furnace. The point is that God knows how to deliver the righteous and to reserve the ungodly for the day of judgment. There is an impending judgment hanging over this world, but God knows how to put His people out of danger and to keep them. You do not need to live in sudden fear of being caught in His wrath. Proverbs says do not be afraid of sudden terror when it comes upon the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being taken.
Part of finding that confidence is learning the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and it is described as hating evil. That does not mean hating people, but hating what is evil and loving what is good, and establishing right judgment. When you look around and see people who do not fear God, who speak coldly and abusively, it is right to recognize that evil for what it is and to turn from it, without returning evil for evil. Abraham once said he feared for his life because surely the fear of God was not in that place. When the fear of God is absent, people can act cruelly, even in families. Your call is to fear God rather than fear people, to give glory to Him and worship Him as Creator, as the angel in Revelation proclaims when he says fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come.
That call to fear God also gives wisdom about prophetic warnings. It is true that God does nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets, and the prophet who has heard from God cannot help but speak. But Scripture also tells us to test every spirit and to measure every message by the Word of God. An online voice may speak with great urgency and use strong language about terrorism and coming judgment, but urgency alone does not prove a message is from God. If you feel compelled to pass something on, pause and test it. Is it grounded in Scripture rightly handled? Does it exalt Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation? Does it lead to fear of God, repentance, and hope, or only to constant dread and the spreading of fear? God does not want His people driven by compulsion to spread alarm, but to be sober, prayerful, and established in His Word.
For your situation, consider these steps before the Lord. Bring the hurt from your relative to God honestly in prayer, and ask Him to guard your heart from returning hatred for hatred. It is right to hate the evil of abusive speech while still praying for the person and seeking peace where possible. Where words are cold and verbally abusive, it is wise to set clear and calm boundaries, to limit exposure to harm, and to seek counsel from mature, Bible grounded believers who know you and can walk with you in person. Keep your attention on what God has clearly revealed in Scripture rather than on sensational claims. Let the Word shape your view of the future more than any streamer. And remember that God sees both your affliction and the accusations against you, and He will be righteous in all His dealings.
May the Lord give you confidence in Him today, keep you from fear of sudden terror, teach you to hate evil and love good, and deliver you as He delivered Lot, not because you are flawless but because He is merciful. May He quiet the compulsion to carry fear to others and instead fill your mouth with what is true and helpful, and may He guard your heart with His peace as you trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation and walk in His ways.
