I hope people may pray for me since I have anxieties and fear about the current direction of civilization and where it's heading in the future. I admit that in lieu of actual heaven I want to have experienced what it was like growing up in the rough equivalent of circumstances in the generation my parents or their previous generations did. I'm not going to get into anymore for this thread, but I couldn't take it sometimes and need some sort of strength or coping ability. I am not an older person, I'm 27 by the way.
Hello VCR,
I understand this fear all too well. Humanity is moving in an increasingly evil and unpredictable direction. Our societies and governments make decisions without proper thought for the consequences. The world itself is decaying. The worst part is realizing how little control we have over such circumstances and how uncertain the future is.
The Bible warned of this:
2 Timothy 3:1-4 "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."
Isaiah 51:6a "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;"
I struggled most with this fear in my late teens. It got to the point where I didn't want to start my life at all because I was too afraid. I just wanted God to end my life early so I would stop experiencing the anxiety.
But there is more to the story - so much more! One day God calmed my spirit and showed me.
Isaiah 51:6 "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished."
1 Peter 1:3-6 "3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
This may be a more religious answer than you are hoping for, but it is truth. All the human strength and coping ability in the world is not enough. The Strength and Peace of Jesus is the only way forward.
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
I know the burden of anxiety you describe - I will pray for your release from it, for it really is too much for any one soul to carry. May the Peace of God indwell you and surround you - always.