A WAKE UP CALL?

I have been much concerned and in prayer about a report on the "News from
Israel" website about 3 weeks ago, and later from a Christian organization,
that there are many sites on Facebook calling for an intifada against Israel
on May 15. They are written in Arabic, so most people don't know about
them. But the statement has been made by these sources that millions of
Arabs have signed up to participate in protest demonstrations against
Israel. I don't know exactly what this means, but it could be very ominous.

The bin Laden affair, which happened later, has led to more strident
threats of retaliation against the US. Will we have catastrophes and
demonstrations on our own soil? And Hamas is joining Fatah, but the
former's vow still is to wipe out Israel and the Jews. Yet the rest of the
world is trying to force Israel to negotiate with Hamas-Fatah-PLO to
partition the land. How can Israel be expected to agree to give part of its
land to a group that has pledged the Jews' complete extinction in the entire
land? And why has the media remained silent about the May 15 (uprising?)?
If we had an arch-enemy who demanded part of the US for their homeland and
had vowed to extinguish us, we wouldn't passively accept it and bow to the
"whatevers". So why think Israel hasn't a right to defend itself against
sworn arch-enemies?

My belief is that we're seeing the books of Daniel and Revelation come
alive in the daily news. So many have taken those words as allegories, or
said they shouldn't even be in the Bible. But every time I pick up a
newspaper lately, I can see the words of Daniel and Revelation starting to
come true. I believe the world is shaping up for the Great Tribulation.
Maybe not starting May 15, but soon.

What will we all do if this becomes a time of war and terror? A time when
we don't feel at all safe? A time when the things we say or do can cause us
to become targets? When the old familiar habits and ways no longer get us
through? What will you do? What will I do? Will we turn to God and
entrust ourselves to him? I think the day is coming when we can't trust
government to help us or be on our side. We're already seeing that the
world leaders don't really know what to do. And partisanship and bickering
and anger and self-interest seem more important than being for the "common
good of the people."

I have to cling to this:
"Though an host should encamp against us, my heart shall know no fear;
Though war should rise up against us, in this will I be confidant: That I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple. ...In the secret places
of his pavillion will he hide me, and set me up on a rock." (I don't know
how to "know no fear." In fact, I am full of fears. But HE isn't afraid.
To
me, the rock is my belief in the delivering power of Jesus Christ. And I
certainly do want to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
and to ask him to keep my eyes focused on the beauty of the Lord. No matter
what's going on in the outside world!)

I can't do much to change my future or the state of the world. But, oh how
I can keep praying for God's mercy, his love, his keeping-power. God knows
the future. And he isn't afraid for our present or for our future. He says
whenever we see bad things happening, to "look up, for your redemption draws
near."