WHY RUN AWAY?
In reading Revelation 6:12-17 again today, it is easy to see how one could focus on the severity of the events of that day. Indeed, when is the last time you saw the stars fall from the sky? But what has captured my attention today is those who hide from God. They are not only the kings and great men and the wealthy people of the world, but also the slaves and every free man. There is no partiality with the wrath of God. Great men and women aren’t any worse or better off than those who are at the bottom of the social scale. The bottom line will not be whether one lived an easy or hard life, but whether one is prepared to meet their Maker. What every one of these people will have in common is their lack of faith in Christ. They would rather face death than believe in Christ. It is difficult for me to imagine how someone could walk away from God after having just experienced the worst devastation ever in history and now are witnessing the cataclysmic events of the 6th seal. I can only think of two reasons for running from God:
One is out of defiance. I have heard people say they would rather go to hell than worship the God of Christians. When life delivers great adversity, rather than turn to God, they become defiant. It is as if standing (or falling) with a fist to God will somehow make them a hero or something. That is the kind of stuff of movies. But we are not talking about good people standing firm against evil. God is all good and all powerful. Even those hiding from God in this revelation are heard to cry out, “Who can stand [against Him]?” For these, ignorant stubbornness blinds them.
But I think for people in the last days, they will run from God for a different reason. As said earlier, they know God is all-powerful whose wrath is unbearable. I believe these will run from God not out of defiance, but out of fear. As a child, if you ever did something wrong, you knew what it was like to wait for dad to come home that evening to exercise a little discipline. Our immediate reaction is to run in these times (especially true if you knew you deserved it). Guilty people tend to run. So it may be in the last days. The guilty will run because they know they are deserving of God’s wrath. The sad truth is that today there are people who feel undeserving of God. They anticipate God’s wrath thinking that is the consequence of their sinful thoughts and behavior. I know people who don’t want to be prayed for because they think they will get God’s wrath rather than His love. What a sad misunderstanding of God.
How does one overcome that kind of thinking? The first and foremost way to change that thinking is to accept them with God’s love. We have opportunities to affect the way people see God. If we are judgmental and condescending, then people will see God as judgmental and condescending. But if we are loving and accepting, then they may begin to see God in the same way. We can help people run to God rather than shirk in fear.
Let me challenge you: Do you know someone who believes they are so horrible God could never accept them? Take the opportunity to love them in a way that alters their view of God. Enable them to see God with a more balanced perspective. He is not merely a God of wrath, but He is a God of love whose love through Christ was designed specifically for imperfect, “unacceptable” people.
