At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
Daniel 12:1

“There will be a time of distress such as had not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” We confront distress we have never encountered before. In other words, hardships don’t magically disappear once we reach a certain plateau; the magnitude and scope of distress grow progressively big. When we meet these hardships that grow with time, we must do two things: focus on salvation and repent.

Distress can refer to what we commonly think of hardship (suffering, pain, and agony), but it can also refer to a kind of hardship where life becomes so comfortable and easy we compromise our faith. Food rots faster in summer than winter. When things are good and comfortable, we turn our backs on faith and do not feel the urgency of having God in our lives. During these “good” hardships, there is no external force making our lives miserable. It is dangerous because we have made the decision to forsake God internally, and there is no pressing need to return to faith.

We will experience a time of distress such as has not happened since the beginning of our lives. We can experience this hardship in our personal lives, careers, and as a church or society. Regardless of the nature of the hardship, we must be aware these hardships grow with time. With every new encounter, we must work harder and exert more effort than ever before because the hardship is greater. The effort we put forth during previous hardships will not be enough to cover the stress we face today or tomorrow. We must not fool ourselves into thinking once we reach a certain level of faith, it’s all smooth sailing! It gets harder and harder.

Distress grows, but God does not leave us to suffer alone. “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.” God sends us the angel, Michael, to help us during our most challenging times. Regardless of the nature of distress, God sends His angel to protect and watch over us. Even in our darkest times when there is nobody around to help and no solution in sight, find solace in God! We are not alone. The great angel Michael is by our side.

Whenever we have work left to do regarding our salvation or the salvation of others, nothing can harm us. We don’t leave this earth until we have completed all our tasks regarding salvation. It doesn’t matter how fierce or evil our enemies are- if we have more salvation to build, God protects us. If we have completed our salvation, God takes us. Our time on earth is up. So when we face distress, regardless of how fierce it is, if we have more salvation to build, God will deliver us. If we are finished building our salvation, we die for the gospel.

When distress continues and does not dissipate, what should we do? Hardships keep coming and growing which tells us we have more salvation to build. In the midst of this barrage of distress and hardship, what should we do? Should we run away? Should we blame God? Remember God keeps us in that situation because we still have salvation to build. Our task is to work hard in building our own salvation, and if there is some person or force persecuting us, we must work hard for their salvation as well. We must continue to live according to the redemption and preach His word.

Second, we must look inward and discover those things that are preventing us from building salvation. Repent what is wrong. As distress continues to grow, we must continue to repent. The more hardship that comes the more we should repent! Is there something I’ve been doing wrong? Fix it! So we must do two things when hardships persist.

Work harder and be more diligent in building salvation!

Repent relentlessly! 

Is your family in turmoil? Are you having problems in the workplace? Do bad things keep happening? Remember this lesson. We are alive because we have more salvation to build. Be diligent and industrious in two regards: building salvation and repenting!

Summary
1. Good and bad distress grow with time
2. God sends His angel Michael to watch over us
3. Hardships persist because we have more salvation to build
4. When hardships continue with no end in sight, work hard to build your salvation and repent

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