Jesus told His disciples. "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains." (Mark 13:7-8)
In the face of the tribulation that will come upon the world before our Lord comes again - wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines (and about every other disaster you can think of, no doubt) - Jesus says, "Do not be alarmed!"
In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus says, "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:25-28) Again, our Lord tells us that we are not to be frightened by these things. But, He goes even further here in saying that we ought to even be confident and hopeful.
Holy Bible (NIV)
Luke 21: 25-28
What is the reason that we can live without fear in the face of so much tribulation? How can we keep our heads up and live with hope and peace when there is so much turmoil? Because, we have the sure and certain hope that our Lord is coming to rescue us. He is coming to bring our redemption to completion - in that He will raise us from the dead to live on the new earth forever and ever in everlasting joy and peace. (Romans 8:23; Revelation 21-22).
If we didn't have the forgiveness of sins and complete reconciliation with God on account of Christ, then it would be fitting to be afraid. For those who reject Christ, there will be great fear - because the Lord is coming also to judge. And, anyone who is not covered in Christ's righteousness - received through faith alone - will be judged guilty.
But, we can look forward to that Day when He will come in great power because He has reconciled us to God through His death on the cross. He has canceled our record of sin. All who believe in Jesus have the sure and certain promise that they will not come into judgment. Rather, they have already passed from death to life through faith in Him.(Romans 5:1-11, John 5:24) With St. Paul, we can boldly say, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Philippians 3:8)
The saying is true: "Know Christ, know peace. No Christ, no peace." It's that simple. True peace in your heart and mind in the midst of turmoil is only found in Christ. And, this peace cannot be earned. It is entirely the gift of God. You don't receive His peace as a reward for good behavior. You can't earn this kind of peace because you are incapable of earning it. In fact, if God gave you what you deserve and what you have earned, He'd give you Hell, literally. If you had to try to get into heaven by your own hard work, you'd have good reason to be afraid. But, because God loves you, He sent His only Son to pay the price for your sins. Because Jesus took the punishment you deserve, God forgives you all of your sins and receives you as His own child.
Therefore, do not be alarmed. Do not fear. For our Lord declares to you, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
