Encouragement for Christians who are Suffering Hardship

Back in October of 2017, the Lord told me that the shaking of His people was about to begin and as a result, we were going to see and hear of terrible things happening all around us. He also told me that this shaking was necessary because most of His people were not maturing as they should be and therefore, not ready to survive or be useful to Him in these last days. He then instructed me to keep my focus on Him and keep going forward in Him no matter what is happening around me. Immediately afterward, we began to hear of people we knew and loved suffering tragic accidents and illnesses that caused many to die.

Then, during our 2019 family Christmas celebration, the Lord told me to enjoy it while we could because it would be quite a while before we be able to be together again. Soon afterward, Covid-19 hit the area in which we live, and the virus was spreading around the world causing much sickness and death. But by June of 2020, Covid-19 cases in our area were down to a trickle, so we were hopeful that the pandemic would end soon. However, the Lord told me that this was not going to end any time soon because it was part of the shaking, and that He was about to increase this shaking because many of His people were not responding as He desires. And since then, the shaking has continued to increase affecting everyone and everything in the world.

Even though God warned me ahead of time, I have often found it hard to not become burdened and discouraged by it all. However, on July 2, 2022, the Lord gave me a dream I call, “The Turning Point,” which has been a great encouragement to me, and He now wants me to share it with you.

In this dream, I was watching everything unfold from a distance as if I was watching a movie. I saw a man and a woman who were the leaders and perpetrators of evil plans that were being carried out on the earth. The man was in charge and the woman was working in agreement with him. The woman was the one who carried out the plans of the man, but she didn’t do any of the ‘dirty work’ herself. Instead, she used others to do it, and many of the people that were used to carry out these evil plans had no idea that they were being used for evil purposes. This is because they were each only given one a little job and they were completely unaware of anything else that was going on. Then after a person completed their job, the woman would have someone else set a trap to eliminate the one who had just finished obeying her commands. In this way, these leaders made certain that there was never any trail of evidence left behind that could point to who was orchestrating these things or what their ultimate plan was.

As I watched these events unfold, I saw many innocent people being sent to do what seemed like a small normal job, and when they were finished, someone else (who was not innocent) would be sent to eliminate the other person in a way that the person being killed would have no idea what was happening until it was too late. The innocent people were considered ‘little people’ and those who killed them were considered ‘secondary people’, but all of them were considered ‘expendable.’

As I watched this happen over and over again, I became very discouraged and sad because so many innocent people were being deceived and harmed, but God didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. This represents what is happening in the world right now – how so many of God’s people feel discouraged because they are going through serious hardship, and everywhere around them evil is rising causing innocent people to suffer and die, and they are wondering why God isn’t rescuing them.

But suddenly, I was shown a different scenario in which I saw two men who were in a room working together to repair a ceiling light fixture because the light coming from it was very weak and intermittent. As they worked on it together, they were able to fix it. Then, they turned the light on and it brightly illuminated the entire room. The light fixture represents our hearts as vessels that God wants to use to shine His light through, and the two men, who were repairing the ceiling light fixture, represent us being willing to partner with Jesus to fix what is broken and dark in our hearts so that Jesus can fill us with the light of His glory.

After that, I was shown another scene that was part of the evil scenario: A man, who I recognized as one of the men I had seen repairing the light fixture and who was now filled with the light of Jesus Christ, was ordered to do a small job. The order came from the evil woman, but he didn’t know it. He just thought he was being sent to do a normal job because all he had to do was drive to a certain building to pick someone up. So, the man got into his car and drove to that building. Then, he parked his car alongside the building and waited for the person to come out. But while he was waiting, someone snuck up behind his car and lit a long match stick. Then, they held the lit matchstick under the back of the car and set the car on fire. Instantly, flames engulfed the outside of the car and then quickly spread to the inside of the car. Then, my view zoomed in on the man who was trapped in the car. I could see that he was completely surrounded by flames, but he was not on fire, and he didn’t panic. He just calmly looked up at the ceiling of the car to where there was a sunroof; then he took a deep breath and blew air out of his mouth toward the sunroof, and his breath immediately extinguished all the flames that area. Then he calmly reached up, opened the sunroof and climbed out of the car without being harmed in any way. After that, everyone who was filled with light was supernaturally protected and rescued from harm. This represents a TURNING POINT that will happen on the earth, after which those who have partnered with Jesus to deal with the darkness in their hearts will be filled with the light of His glory, and they will go forth in the strength and power of God.

In the last scene, I saw the evil woman along with another man who worked for her, laid out on a slab of cement. They were dead, and I saw the chief evil man standing in front of them looking at their dead bodies. Suddenly, he threw himself on top of the evil woman’s body and tried to bring her back to life, but he did not have the power to do so. My dream ended with the evil man screaming in anguish and anger.

Comments:

For the past 2 years, my husband and I have also been battling against many physical problems, but the Lord has been using this to reveal and deal with some deeply rooted issues of the heart, and in December of 2022, the Lord told both of us that we were finally free.

Then, at the beginning of 2023, a sense of quietness settled over me and I found it hard to continue praying for the many serious needs that were all around me. So, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do, and His answer was that He is working mightily in the midst of the evil and He is in control of it all, so all I need to do now is rest under His wings in quietness and in trust. When I told my husband this, he said it brought Isaiah 30:15 to his mind. The essence of this chapter is that Israel was stubborn and wouldn’t listen to the Lord, so instead of taking refuge in the Lord, they wanted to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt. Then in verse 15, the Lord says, “In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But the Israelite’s were not willing. From this, I realized that many Christians are still struggling between relying on the world and relying on the Lord, but God is calling those who are willing, to come into a deeper place of full surrender to Him regardless of how we feel and what is going on everywhere around us. If we are willing to fully surrender to Him and His will, our soul will become quiet and we will learn to completely trust in God’s love for us no matter what happens.

Then on March 22, 2023, God reminded of another dream He gave me called, ‘The Path of Transformation,’ which is on this website at https://www.brideofchristarise.com/the-path-of-transformation/. In that dream, one of the primary instructions the Lord gave to those of us who were willing to leave all and travel the narrow upward road to transformation, was that we were not to stop moving forward for any reason. But before long, I became so weary that I decided to stop walking forward/upward until I had rested and renewed my strength. However, stopping to rest did not help me regain my strength, so I could only keep going by crawling on my hands and knees. The Lord then made a point of saying that my having to crawl in the dream, was not because I was being punished for my disobedience, it was just the result of my own choices and decisions. Then, the Lord told me that Christians everywhere are suffering hardship, not because He is punishing us, but because we are in such a habit of relying on our physical senses and our own strength instead of on God and His strength. That causes us to make choices and decisions based on what we think we can and cannot do, and even on what we want and don’t want to do, which prevents us from doing what God wants us to do. Therefore, He is allowing these hardships in order to break this bad habit because it is the only way that we learn to rise above our circumstances and obey God regardless of what we see, hear, feel, think or like.

So, as we go through these difficulties and hardships, let us surrender to God and choose to love, trust and obey Him and rely totally on Him for our strength regardless of our circumstances. If we do that, God will help us to endure, persevere and keep moving forward toward the goal of our upward call in Christ Jesus, which is to become a faithful, fearless, loving Bride through which He will reveal His glory and power to the world!

Scripture references:

Proverbs 3:5-12, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the Lord‘s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

2 Cor. 4:6-11 & 16-18, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Hebrews 12:1-8, 9-11, & 25-29,”Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

1 Peter 4:12 &17-19, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’ Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

1 Peter 5:6-11, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

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