Hope that Won't Disappoint

Falsely asserting peace, when God is judging and refining a people for their good hurts faith.

Wrong expectations don't increase faith... They increase offense with God.

God spoke through Jeremiah real vision that preceded real refining... 70 years of it, to be exact.

Jeremiah 29:8-14 ESV — For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD. “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

The false prophets in Jeremiah's day just kept echoing victory and peace to one another, misleading the people away from God's true purpose. Every time God moved His people deeper into His plan, they became more and more discouraged, fearful, and eventually idolatrous out of desperation to touch the victory the false had prophesied.

Right now, God is shaking all nations. Not one true grain will be lost. Those falsely prophesying a fleshy victory will be held accountable by God. If it sounds good to the flesh without requiring peace, patience. Kindness, gentleness, faith, etc. it's likely resisting the Spirit.

There is victory for the faithful, not the delusional, coming.

Amos 9:9-11 ESV — “For behold, I will command,

and shake the house of Israel among all the nations

as one shakes with a sieve,

but no pebble shall fall to the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,

who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’ “In that day I will raise up

the booth of David that is fallen

and repair its breaches,

and raise up its ruins

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

Gritting teeth and believing for a "win" on the earth is the worst thing a person could do right now.

The best thing we could do is get into the place of prophetic prayer. If we let God tells us what He thinks, instead of telling Him what we think He should do, He will order our expectations accordingly.

More conflict, distress, and war are coming, not less. More shaking, not less.

Until the faithful are purified... Then peace, peace, peace....

1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 ESV — Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1-11 ESV — 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. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

No matter what's happening on earth... There is peace available today "under the shadow of His wing." Same as Jeremiah's day. Until we find that for real, there will be no peace. Faith, hope and love is the point.

Why hope for some temporary peace that clearly isn't unfolding when peace that passes understanding is one prayer away?!