By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
On April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse made its way across 15 states in America (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine). If you were one of the lucky ones to be along the path of totality, you had the privilege experiencing this rare phenomenon.
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).
Leading up to, during, and after the eclipse, I was left with dueling feelings of awe and foreboding. Throughout scripture God tells us to pay attention to signs in the sky. “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so” (Genesis 1:14-15).
Before the eclipse, there was no shortage of amateur stargazers giving their opinion on the matter, however, I kept my attention focused on those who have a track record for discerning troubling times, God’s prophets.
- “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
- “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
- “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers” (Matthew 23:34 NIV).
- “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28 NIV).
- “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21 NIV).
Although we are warned in Scripture about false prophets, there are ways to discern whether a prophet is from God. First, are they preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and second, does their message line up with scripture and God’s character? If these benchmarks are met, we should pay attention. “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 ESV).
Several of God’s prophets have been declaring a similar message: It is time to wake up, repent, and turn back to the Lord. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
The world is shaking. Do you feel it? Things have gone from bad to worse. God is speaking through the prophets and through the skies. We are standing at a precipice; the Church needs to unite. United we stand. Divided we fall.
Let the light of Jesus shine brightly in and through you. Create a bridge of hope in the world sparked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let’s put aside our petty differences and focus on what we have in common—Jesus, our Lord and Savior. It’s time to pluck-out Satan’s influence over America and around the world. It’s time to take a stand for Christ. We may not know the day or hour of Jesus’ second coming, but we can (and should) be dressed and ready while we wait.
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord” (Acts 2:17-20).
Keep watch, sweet sisters, and be ready. Keep fixing your eyes on Jesus, the Light of the world, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
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