Standing Firm in Unsettling Times: A Five-Day Devotional by Skip HeitzigSample

 Trust the Future to God's Power

Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. —Psalm 46:8-11

The future is in view in these verses: a time when wars will erupt and a period known as the great tribulation will overtake the earth. Jesus told His disciples, "And there will be signs…and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25-26). 

Ultimately, all will culminate in Israel in a battle called Armageddon (see Revelation 16:16). Then Jesus Christ will come to end the battle—and end all wars. God, our Ruler, will one day reveal His mighty power. In the meantime we're called to acknowledge His power and "be still."