As we continue to see news headlines that highlight the grave economic, social, and healthcare situations that our nation and world are facing, I found the letter from Mr. Jim Tuck to be wonderfully poignant. I hope that you find his distillation to be as helpful an agent of focus as I did.

"It is an on-going goal of mine to prepare a weekly report for our brethren of significant international events which tie into Bible prophecy. Unfortunately, the mainstream news media often does not generally report anything about these kind of newsworthy items. 

We are acutely aware of the downward spiral towards destruction of this world, and prophecy shows us the end of everything will be the worst time in human history (Matthew 24:21-22).
Jesus even instructed His disciples to watch and pray always that we are accounted worthy to escape the horrific things coming (Luke 21:36). Indeed we should watch world events and our spiritual condition and continually pray for God's help to be overcomers.

However, we must never forget [that] the greatest message Christ brought was the incredible good news of the Kingdom of God - a time when we will have a thousand years of peace and prosperity for all people on earth. This should be the overwhelming thrust of the message we think about when we consider scripture. One third of the Bible is dedicated to prophecy. While it speaks of a coming time of intense trouble prior to the millennium, we need to keep in mind the glorious descriptions in the prophecies of books like Isaiah and Micah regarding the thousand year reign of Christ.

The time of the tribulation is three-and-a-half years, and then 1000 years of peace and plenty will ensue. Think about it, 1000 years of prosperity, compared to three-and-a-half years of tribulation.

Naturally our thoughts should then be primarily on the good news of awesome things which will come when Jesus returns to be the King of kings. We should rejoice and be happy about what God's government will bring for all humanity. 

I'm emphatically not saying [that] we should ignore watching world events, and stick our heads in the sand like an ostrich.  But, as with all things, we must keep a right balance so [that] we can remain God's positive and optimistic people. 

Despite how bad this world may become, God has clued us in on the most exciting good news of how this world is going to be transformed.  Even more exciting, you and I can have an important  part in transforming the world under Jesus Christ as we reign with Him."

- Jim Tuck