Thewhitedove Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 70 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 459 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 384 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/14/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 I have become almost obsessively frightened about the Great Tribulation. For the past 2 weeks I have been consumed with it and it is affecting my mental health. I feel like I have a black cloud of doom hanging over me from morning until night.God has protected my dreams thankfully, so sleep is some escape. My issue is fear of persecution. I am a wimp with a low pain threshold. When I was giving birth to my children I was begging for pain relief, and would have agreed to anything to make the pain stop. I am frightened about being such a weakling that I will betray Christ. I'm naturally a timid person and easily intimidated. Will God help people like me? I know we have been commanded to fear nothing and enjoy life but honestly the joy is draining away from my life more and more. I am having such dark thoughts and feel scared all the time. Please help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who me Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 17 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,298 Content Per Day: 1.73 Reputation: 1,685 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/27/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 26 minutes ago, Thewhitedove said: I have become almost obsessively frightened about the Great Tribulation. For the past 2 weeks I have been consumed with it and it is affecting my mental health. I feel like I have a black cloud of doom hanging over me from morning until night.God has protected my dreams thankfully, so sleep is some escape. My issue is fear of persecution. I am a wimp with a low pain threshold. When I was giving birth to my children I was begging for pain relief, and would have agreed to anything to make the pain stop. I am frightened about being such a weakling that I will betray Christ. I'm naturally a timid person and easily intimidated. Will God help people like me? I know we have been commanded to fear nothing and enjoy life but honestly the joy is draining away from my life more and more. I am having such dark thoughts and feel scared all the time. Please help! May I suggest that you talk to someone about your 'obsession with the great tribulation. May I also suggest that you stop reading or listening to sermons about Jesus's return, even if this means changing churches. There is only one fact that we can be 1000% sure about and that is that Jesus will return. That is all you need to concern yourself with. Jesus will one day return. The next fact that we know with almost the same degree of certainty and that is no one knows when Jesus will return. He may return durring your life time or he may return durring your great, great, greatgrand childrens life time. Concentrate on living for Jesus now, Jesus is in charge of tomorrow and we cannot change tomorrow by worring about tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr3032 Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 332 Content Per Day: 0.16 Reputation: 273 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/23/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 You are what you focus on. It might be better if you focus on more positive things. Ask yourself, WOULD you betray Christ? They might take your possessions. So what? Would you rather have a chair, or would you rather have salvation in Jesus? They could starve you in a holding cell. So what? Would you rather have a cheeseburger, or would you rather have salvation in Jesus? Say they strap you down to a table and torture you. Would you rather give in and admit defeat, or would you rather stand strong and have victory with Jesus? If you find yourself in need of strength and bravery, then pray to God. Matthew 17:20 - and He said to them, "because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GandalfTheWise Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 24 Topic Count: 40 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,459 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 2,377 Days Won: 2 Joined: 08/23/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 15 minutes ago, Thewhitedove said: I am frightened about being such a weakling that I will betray Christ. I'm naturally a timid person and easily intimidated. Will God help people like me? Of course He'll help! As Christians, we often unintentionally put way too much pressure on ourselves. Consider Peter's betrayal of Jesus. He was scared of what might happen to him, and a few hours after saying to Jesus' face that he would be willing to die for him, Peter started swearing that he didn't know Jesus. 69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. 70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. 71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” 73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” 74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Matt 26:69-74 NIV Months later, Peter was standing in public proclaiming Christ and ended up in jail. It's not a question of our natural abilities or willpower, it's about God's Spirit indwelling us and changing us and empowering us during such times. 54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60 NIV The way we prepare for such situations is to consistently walk with God and grow spiritually. How we respond at such times is mostly determined by how we've lived our lives up to that point. Our trust and confidence in God is something that grows over time as we get to know Him more and more each day. Faith is not something we conjure up through willpower and desire. Faith is trust and confidence based on days, weeks, months, and years of seeing what God does in our daily lives. When I became a Christian over 40 years ago, I got into reading much about the end times. I was convinced the Lord's return was soon. Now, I figure there's a very good chance I'll physically die before that day. At some point, I stopped worrying about trying to figure out when the Lord's return would be and what was happening in the world and just started going about living my life without worrying about it. If His return is tomorrow, cool. If it is a few centuries from now, fine. I've decided to live my life so as to leave a legacy behind that might be a blessing to those who follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewhitedove Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 70 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 459 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 384 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/14/2019 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 11 minutes ago, dr3032 said: You are what you focus on. It might be better if you focus on more positive things. Ask yourself, WOULD you betray Christ? They might take your possessions. So what? Would you rather have a chair, or would you rather have salvation in Jesus? They could starve you in a holding cell. So what? Would you rather have a cheeseburger, or would you rather have salvation in Jesus? Say they strap you down to a table and torture you. Would you rather give in and admit defeat, or would you rather stand strong and have victory with Jesus? If you find yourself in need of strength and bravery, then pray to God. Matthew 17:20 - and He said to them, "because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you". I would rather the salvation in Jesus. However I remember when I was giving birth, the pain so awful I was trying to think of ways to kill myself while in the delivery room! I didn't REALLY want to die, but in that moment I would have done anything to make the pain stop! So what I would rather now isnt necessarily what I would opt for when put on the spot. My flesh is so weak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewhitedove Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 70 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 459 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 384 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/14/2019 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 Thanks everyone. Some great comments and pearls of wisdom. I can't face this without immense supernatural help. Its not possible for me to intellectually rationalise in the face of pain. I know I can't stand it. I know my limits. Anyway i will keep praying amd trusting that God will give me what I need. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who me Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 17 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,298 Content Per Day: 1.73 Reputation: 1,685 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/27/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 4 minutes ago, Thewhitedove said: Thanks everyone. Some great comments and pearls of wisdom. I can't face this without immense supernatural help. Its not possible for me to intellectually rationalise in the face of pain. I know I can't stand it. I know my limits. Anyway i will keep praying amd trusting that God will give me what I need. One simple point. God won't give you what you don't need. You are not facing perscution, torture etc for being a Christian so you don't need the strength, grace etc to endure it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewhitedove Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 70 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 459 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 384 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/14/2019 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 11 minutes ago, Who me said: One simple point. God won't give you what you don't need. You are not facing perscution, torture etc for being a Christian so you don't need the strength, grace etc to endure it. I meant in the future potentially but yes, you are right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOrangeCat Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 57 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,397 Content Per Day: 0.27 Reputation: 1,817 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/24/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 One thing you could do is do some serious self examination as to why it bothers you. Is it just the prospect of pain and persecution or is it more? As a child and teenager I used to go through periods of feeling terrified of the end times and in part it's because I felt I wasn't doing enough for God. I still feel that I'm not, and I think if most people were honest they'd feel they could step up their game as well. The difference between now and then for me is that I've come to feel that I'm growing spiritually and that's what counts. If bad times come I feel secure enough in God's love that I know He'll take care of it and I just have to hang on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewhitedove Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 70 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 459 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 384 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/14/2019 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 4 minutes ago, AnOrangeCat said: One thing you could do is do some serious self examination as to why it bothers you. Is it just the prospect of pain and persecution or is it more? As a child and teenager I used to go through periods of feeling terrified of the end times and in part it's because I felt I wasn't doing enough for God. I still feel that I'm not, and I think if most people were honest they'd feel they could step up their game as well. The difference between now and then for me is that I've come to feel that I'm growing spiritually and that's what counts. If bad times come I feel secure enough in God's love that I know He'll take care of it and I just have to hang on. Thanks for your reply. Its simple cowardice. Ive been afraid of physical pain all my life. I am not afraid to die but i have been frightened of being hurt. Its a very fleshly thing. Im starting out on my true path with Christ (was wishy washy before) and maybe spiritual maturity will help develop my relience even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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