What can I do, right now?

Ever day there's new horror.

If you believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, and what follows, and you're also seeing what's going on in the world, you're no doubt feeling some urgency.

Add to that the many prophecy teachers rightly spurring us all on to share the Gospel, and you might almost feel a bit of panic. Should you go stand on the street corner with a sign or holler a warning? Should you quit your job and become an evangelist?

What you should do is what God is directing you to do, that's the real answer.

But if you're like me and don't have huge reach or are perhaps isolated or not around a lot of people, or maybe your life is "small" and you feel guilty you're not reaching millions for the Lord, don't fret. If you're overwhelmed by the amount of horrific things happening in the world and don't know how to make a difference when your life seems unaffected, rest assured you were created by God for this time.

And that means you can still be used by God, where you're at, for this time. 

1. Be an encourager.

To give the fearful courage is what it means to be an encourager.

You can do this in conversations by steering them towards God's truth and the Bible's take on what is happening in the world right now. Instead of feeding conspiracy theories and the anger and fear that come from that, acknowledge that the enemy is great but God is far greater and is in control.

Share information, news, and content on social media that is encouraging. Oh, this isn't about sticking your head in the sand as if nothing is going on. It's about giving context to all the crazy and scary things happening in the world. Find a way to pack everything you share in a blanket of encouragement so it points to the truth of the Bible and to Jesus.

Avoid being a doom and gloom prophet who seems to enjoy the division and anxiety they are feeding. There are a lot of "Bible prophecy" social media pages that have sprung up that seem to be little more than conspiracy or bad-news loving in nature. Simply sharing the terrifying news of the breakdown of the world without explaining why the Bible says this is happening (and encouraging people to turn to Christ) is not ministry.

2. Point people to Jesus when you can.

Are you on Facebook and seeing all the bad news or division? Find a way to point people to Jesus. Frame the bad news and chaos in terms of what the Bible tells us.

Oh, you'll get people who lash out at you. Don't respond. Don't argue. Simply share. You never know who is paying attention and needed you to share it with them.

There isn't much time. If someone tells you off or refuses to hear, don't worry about it. We're not building earthly kingdoms, and with the little time we have left, that kind of response is of little concern. Move on to the next and share the Good News.

3. Use tracts or other small items.

Leave tracts, business-card sized ABC plans of salvation, or other information all around. At the rest stop, at the doctor's office, at the salon, at a store, given to a person, tucked into a library book. (When the rapture happens, do you think people might go to the library to look in a Bible? Good place to leave information about what happened and what they need to do to get right with God.)

You aren't looking to be a nuisance, and won't dump thousands of pieces of paper on the city park lawn, but you could have things ready to share or leave behind when you're out and about.

We like to make jokes about tracts, but it's a method of information and why not use it to share the Gospel? You never know whose life might be changed.

4. Pray specifically for more to come to Christ.

I leave the most important for last.

As we watch the horrors of war, lockdowns in China, natural disasters around the world, uprisings, government corruption, chaos, crime, food shortages—it's an ever-growing list—it's easy to feel helpless or angry.

When I saw the videos of high-rise apartments in China, with the people screaming and wailing, people being hauled away to COVID camps, pets being shot or killed in front of owners, and people leaping from the buildings because they were starving in their own apartment, I just wept. What can I do? How do we understand this when it's so far from what we're experiencing? How do we process the reality of living in a world where so much horror is happening to some while not to others?

The thought God keeps leading me back to these past few years as things have escalated is to pray for the Gospel to spread. Not pray for fair elections or for the defeat of the deep state or the arrest of public health officials, but pray for the spread of the Gospel. In all things, that's the only thing that matters now as the clock winds down.

In my mind, as situations grow worse and worse and people around the world are being crushed, it's as if there's a giant scoop, pulling in the last thousands of people to be part of the church before God flips the switch, and that the more the evil rises the bigger the scoop becomes.

Pray that true followers of Christ everywhere are given supernatural courage to share the Gospel in these dire situations. Pray that God opens the hearts and the minds of those hurting and scared so that when they hear about Jesus, they receive.

Imagine if the believers in those high-rise buildings in China were to build Christ's church right there, if God were to supernaturally supply them and enable them to help the spiritual and physical needs of the people on their floor or in their building?

There's a lot going on, and a lot to distract. And God may direct you to pray in different ways. But we were never to be about building earthly kingdoms and platforms and, especially now, we have to remember that. Pray that Jesus builds his church even more as evil pushes in from all sides.

We can all do this.