There is something very simple and obvious about enduring the time of trouble. It’s nothing more nor less than living like Jesus lived. Christ was our divine Guest on this planet, and we treated Him badly. But He showed us where true values lie and what is genuine happiness. The time of trouble will be the grand opportunity for God’s believing people to learn how precious is His way of life.
For example, we have long known (and shuddered at the prospect) that we will have to leave our homes and seek refuge in wilderness places. Jesus said of this time, “Flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. . . . Then will be great tribulation, such as had not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” Matthew 24.16-21. “The people of God will flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the mountains.” GC 626. But this is no worse than the way Jesus lived! He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8.20. The time of trouble will be something like going camping with Jesus. Would you accept His invitation?
In the time of trouble, people will be hungry, and the child of God is promised only that “bread will be given him, his water will be sure.” Isaiah 33.16. There is no promise of cake and ice cream! But again, Jesus knew what it is to be hungry and to eat very simple food. Matthew 4.1, 2. The time of trouble will be eating with Jesus. Would you accept His invitation?
God’s people will be dragged before courts and magistrates to answer for their faith. “Many of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons.” GC 626. Again, this is no worse than the treatment the world accorded Jesus and His apostles. He was beaten and crucified. The point is this: the time of trouble will simply give God’s people a first-hand acquaintance with the way Jesus lived on earth. It will establish for them a close sympathy with Him, a tie of intimacy that will hold for all eternity. Would you accept Jesus’ invitation to go to court with Him?
Jesus, sleeping on the ground, finding refuge in prayer alone in the mountains, shunning the big cities, caring nothing for wealth and luxury, has proven to us all that real happiness does not inhere in material things. Thank God for giving Him to us! Otherwise, we would never have found our release from the captivity of this worldly enthrallment. The time of trouble will be the occasion when Christ gives His people His diploma, which He said is “my peace, . . . not as the world giveth.” John 14.28. Even within affliction and persecution, God’s people will learn an inner peace and happiness that transcends sensual and materialistic pleasures. At last, the confused values