The Perfect Storm Prophecy – John Paul Jackson

What I write in the article “The Perfect Storm” is not an attempt to claim that I have full revelation regarding events that may take place in the coming years. In fact, I want to state emphatically that this is not the case. Many times I have prayed and asked the Lord that what I am about to write could be prevented. But I feel strongly compelled by the Holy Spirit to disclose some of the things I have seen.

What I write in the article below is not an attempt to claim that I have full revelation regarding events that may take place in the coming years. In fact, I want to state emphatically that this is not the case. Many times I have prayed and asked the Lord that what I am about to write could be prevented. But I feel strongly compelled by the Holy Spirit to disclose some of the things I have seen.

The “Perfect Storm” prophecy is also available on video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWesmQbEjjc

This nation will soon experience great shaking. It will not be confined to the United States, but will strike a much wider global community. After some time, what is of God will stand and be strengthened. And what is not of Him — even if we are convinced that it is — will be shaken. Few, if any, will escape this shaking to any degree.

What is coming is not what some would call the Wrath of God. I am convinced that it is judgment, at least in the sense I will define it later. Nor do I think it is the “Tribulation,” as some might want to call it. It is simply a time in which humanity will make a series of historically bad choices. It is a time in which greed and usury will pollute the business world, and — though it pains me to say it — some churches too will adopt far too many worldly practices.

This is a time when society cries out to protect baby seals while simultaneously insisting on the right to end the lives of the unborn. It is a time when evil is called good and good is slandered as evil. It is a confused time, in which self-indulgence is regarded as a “right.” I am grieved that perversion and sexual unfaithfulness are increasingly viewed — even by the Church — as normal, and the term “restoration to ministry” is proudly waved about as though marriage were more a convenience than a covenant.

{Have we perhaps cheapened God’s grace by letting those who premeditated a divorce remain in ministry? I know of situations where people have an affair and get divorced while believing there are no consequences at all for their sin! They can carry right on functioning in ministry as if nothing happened!}

If we do not change this mindset, we will not escape further social and national corruption. There is a reason the verse in 2 Chronicles 7:14 was written. God spoke it to a people who had stopped asking Him for direction — a people full of pride, self-indulgent, prayerless, a people whose ways had grown dark and unjust. We are that people. And yet, in spite of all this, God promised that if they would change their hearts and their attitudes, He would bring healing and revival to their land.

If we do not change, we will certainly see Satan’s plans fulfilled through our enemies rising up against us. Without God’s protection, unimaginable destruction will come upon this nation from five fronts, which I will describe below. We are like the nation the prophet Obadiah wrote about (Obad 1:3-4):

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, Who will bring me down to the ground? Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the LORD.”

God’s hand protects our borders, but without His intervention they will become porous, so that wicked nations will be able to inflict widespread destruction even among small communities, spreading fear on a scale this nation has never seen before.

What is coming does not mean in any way that God is not a God of Love. In fact, He Himself is Love in its highest form. No one could ever be loved by anyone more than God loves them. Yet, in His love, He also disciplines (Heb 12:6). In His great love, He must discipline every course of action that leads to destruction. His grace is pure, and He has given the world much grace. We do not always understand God’s ways, yet we can be certain that God knows how to balance judgment, mercy, and grace.

Do not be afraid of the Perfect Storm!

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isa 26:3

Those who truly walk with God through Jesus the Messiah will witness wonderful things and come to know the secrets of Heaven, as God supernaturally meets their needs. This provision will not be limited to food alone, but will extend to ideas, inventions, innovations, and favor. They will meet needs like no one else can in that time. Daniel put it this way: 

“…the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” – Dan 11:32

Hope for the future will come from those who know God and are strong in Him — those who walk with Him. These people will carry a deep compassion, which will produce great strength and inner fortitude — character. Their value to those who are suffering will lie not in riches, but in the strength and faith they have built in God over the years.
Those outside the household of faith will become the target of the plans of the god of this world — plans of pain, defeat, betrayal, jealousy, and bitterness. Out of this time of shaking, our nation and the rest of the world will emerge with less confidence, more humbled, and broken in ways that cannot now be foreseen. A change of heart must come, and will come, to this nation. Evil will become more obvious, and righteousness will be tested and put on trial. We will have to make a choice — either darkness and evil, or God’s light. Little room will be left between the two.

When did I begin to receive this message?

The Lord began speaking the message I am sharing years ago, back in 1980. I spoke about the Perfect Storm in 1981 on KVTT Radio in Dallas, Texas. I shared on the subject again on television in Dallas in 1987. Some parts of this message are not new to me. Others have been revealed to me over the last eight years, but in June 2008 God began urging me to speak about this at several conferences in the United States and abroad. I must admit I am reluctant to write and speak about this again. When God reveals the future to us, He sometimes does so decades in advance, and in the case of Daniel and other prophets, even thousands of years in advance. I am releasing this message with a heavy heart. Those who have followed my ministry may have heard me say more than once over the past eight years that as we approach 2010, things would grow increasingly difficult. I pray and hold on to the hope that what I spoke of then, and what I am now writing, can still be turned back.
My present concern is that, without people speaking about the events to come, the Church will not play its redemptive role in bringing about the necessary change in this nation and in the world.

Has the Perfect Storm already begun?

Because some aspects of the Perfect Storm have already begun, I feel compelled to tell you, as a way of verification, that I spoke of these things some time ago. One of the places where I shared this recently was a conference led by John Kilpatrick in Daphne, Alabama, in July 2008. By that time the Lord had asked me to write it down and send it to my ministry partners. I did so on the first of August 2008. Although some of the things I spoke of and wrote about have already come to pass, most will occur over the coming years.
Although many of the difficult events happening right now have economic roots, many of the things I have seen do not. This Perfect Storm contains many components, which I will address further in this article.

I pray that you will understand my heart as I say this. I believe the Lord will give you wisdom to get through, and potentially to thrive in, the approaching Perfect Storm that already looms over this nation and beyond.

The Perfect Storm and its Five Approaching Elements

As in the movie “The Perfect Storm” — the storm I see approaching the United States is a combination of more than one element, and the uniqueness of each makes this storm all the more dangerous.
However, unlike the movie, this perfect storm is not a combination of weather phenomena. This storm is more menacing; it combines five distinct elements: religion, politics, economics, war, and geophysical events.
At times these five elements will intertwine with one another in such a way that it will be difficult — if possible at all — to discern which events are setting the various manifestations of this storm in motion. Problems on a massive scale in these five areas will occur with considerable frequency and in various combinations.

{They will come quickly, suddenly, and they will be severe}

Each element potentially encompasses several events that will impact both the national and international level like a wave. Some waves will be more severe than others, depending on where you live and how you live. Some will experience the economic elements more, others more of the geophysical ones; some will experience all the elements. Remember, it is the speed and the combination of the different elements that makes this storm so dangerous.
Nor does this mean that all five elements will strike with the same destructive force. For example, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst level, one element might strike with a force of 6, while another strikes at a level of 8. It is this specific mixture of elements — their proximity and the intensity with which they occur — that will make this perfect storm very dangerous and, in human terms, long-lasting. This storm will not be short-lived; it will come in waves, one after another.

Why is the perfect storm coming?

This storm is coming because the Church (the Body of Christ) has stopped being the backbone of this nation. From the very beginning, the Christian faith was the plumb line guiding decision-making at every level of life. This nation’s Christian foundations set it apart from every other nation, including Israel. Other nations became Christian along the way, but none was shaped with Christianity in its very DNA.
The Church is meant to reveal the manifold wisdom of God to this world and to the powers in the heavenly realms (Eph 2:2). This manifestation to the heavens does not happen by speaking to those powers, but by living an upright life. We see that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is thriving in the Church, where money is regarded as a sign of success and anointing. Money has become the driving force. It steers far too many churches, which carry monstrously large financial burdens in order to pay for all the amenities meant to impress the very system of this world that we are supposed to be transforming.

The way we live either opens or closes the door for Satan to legally harass us and potentially rule over us through leaders who do not know God’s ways. The basic principle is that sin separates us from God. From the days of Adam and Eve until today, humanity’s actions create room for the enemy to strike and attack us.

The only legal way the enemy can gain access to us is when God withdraws His hand. This creates a space between Him and us that widens as we depart from Him and His ways. Every time a distance opens up between God and humanity, it creates room for an attack from the rulers and powers of the air (the powers of darkness), who move in to occupy that space. The longer the powers of darkness dwell over a given region, the more people begin to call good evil, and evil good.
In the United States, leaders arise out of the nation — in other words, as the people think and believe, so their leaders believe as well. So when the lines between good and evil, or holy and unclean, become blurred, leaders make choices that reflect their upbringing and the environment they came from. They make decisions that have a dramatic impact on you and me.

One consequence of this is that in this nation, the truth about Jesus Christ and His cross as the way to God has stopped being an absolute. In fact, absolutes are now under attack as intolerant — first in the world, and now even in the Church. Yes, there are exceptions within the Church, but through compromise the absolutes of heaven and eternity are clearly evaporating.

{How can we draw the world to us if we live exactly as it does?}

can God plan disaster?

We must prepare for harsh changes, for fierce winds are approaching. We are living in the days of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who wrote that God can bring disaster upon our nation if we continue choosing to walk in our own ways. God said to Jeremiah:

“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
And they said, That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.” – Jer 18:7-12

{God is not mocked — whatever we sow in the flesh, we will reap in the flesh!}

Did you notice that God said that if we change our hearts and turn from our ungodly ways, He will soften the disaster He was planning to bring?

What are the signs that the perfect storm is approaching?

You could probably compile a much longer list yourselves than the one I am about to present below.
The point is not to give a detailed, precise inventory of events, but to remind you that the first winds of this storm have already begun.

Geophysical phenomena:

• Record cold and record snowfall in California.
• Record snowstorms in the Northeast.
• 2008 was the coldest year in twenty years.
• A decline in bee colonies due to destructive Varroa mites. They feed on bee eggs and adult bees, activating and spreading disease, thereby shortening the insects’ lifespan and shrinking bee colonies. As a result, the yield of tree fruit, flowers, and vegetables will decrease.
• A decline in the bat population — White Nose Syndrome, a disease that appears as a white fungal growth around the bats’ noses. As a result, the number of mosquitoes and other insects will multiply.
• An increase in tornadoes, hurricanes, and other violent storms.
• An overall increase in strong winds.

War:

• Armed militants in the Gaza Strip fired dozens of rockets in attacks on Israel.
• In response, Israel sent military aircraft and helicopters that bombed the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Saturday (December 27, 2008), killing at least 205 people, marking the bloodiest single-day death toll since the sixty-year conflict with the Palestinians began.

{What nation would allow another nation to attack it relentlessly with rockets and do nothing about it?}

• Iran tripled its number of long-range missiles.
• Israeli-Iranian tension.
• Tensions between India and Pakistan.

Politics:

• Youth riots and violence in Greece.
• Growing calls for a single world government as financial crises and the global effects of wars push national governments toward global solutions — even governments of countries like China and the USA, which have traditionally stood as guardians of national sovereignty.
• Corruption, as in the case of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, is not the last political-financial scandal to be uncovered.
• The Russian youth movement “Nashi” (backed by the government) organized a rally outside the American Embassy in Moscow, where about 20,000 young people held pumpkins marked with the names of “America’s victims,” including those killed in South Ossetia.

Religion:

• The end of the Lakeland Outpouring (the Lakeland revival).
• A rise in the divorce rate among pastors, not to mention that the divorce rate within the Body of Christ is slightly higher than among unbelievers.
• A diminishing influence of Christianity.
• A lack of absolutes and worldly thinking among Christians.
• Growing efforts to claim that Islam and Christians serve the same God, which is not true.
• A weakening of faith in the Kingdom of God and the reality of evil.
• A weakening of faith in the existence of the spiritual world, which is more real than the temporary world in which we live.
• The Church is more interested in numbers than in Kingdom assignments.
• The Church is more interested in “managing sin” than in transforming hearts.
• Universalism has far too many followers.

Economics:

• The government bailout (due to the crisis) of 700 billion dollars is not yet the end — watch the second half of 2009.
• Continued decline in the stock market, employment, real estate, industry, services, banking, and financial institutions.
• When the waters of economic stability begin to recede, the rocks will show. What do I mean by that? There are many problems hidden beneath the surface, but as the shaking of the economy grows, these issues will be exposed.
• Bernard Madoff’s scheme, estimated at a total of 50 billion dollars, is not the last domino to fall.
• Individual states are struggling with financial crisis — a recent study by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities revealed that 41 states are facing serious budget shortfalls for 2009. Some states are in a tougher position than others. Leading the way in deficits are California (31.7 billion dollars) and Florida (5.1 billion dollars). Overall, all the states combined are facing a budget deficit of 71.9 billion dollars. The key word here is “currently.”
• Deflation/stagflation/inflation/hyperinflation — all of these phenomena will follow one after another. What intervening factor will start the flow of a fully unbacked 8.5 trillion dollars into the business sector?
• The answer is: a serious “fiscal stimulus” through the printing of money without backing, which will cause the dollar to lose value through inflation.
• The moment investors, property owners, or those responsible for roads, schools, specialized education, music, sports, teachers’ salaries, orphanages, and local infrastructure construction receive Federal Bank agreements along with federal guarantees, they will go to the bank for loans. Why would the bank, despite the agreement and despite the guarantee of federal fiscal stimulus, fail to provide even up to 90% of the required funds?
• This will open the door to liquidity. Inflation will follow, then hyperinflation (a currency event, not an economic one) — all of this in the very midst of a deep recession.
• The consequences of these moves amount to 8.5 trillion dollars in government bailout funding.
• In time, the table will be set for a global system.

what consequences lie ahead of us?

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past.” – Isa 26:20

Geophysical:

• We will experience storms in America and in Africa that will linger over a given location for two weeks. In Africa, some airports will be closed for longer than a month, and travel will be impossible in either direction.

All along I kept hearing: calamities of 2012, calamities of 2012, calamities of 2012.

{I wish I knew more about these “calamities” — there was more, but I simply don’t remember it}.

• The air currents moving from west to east in the upper part of the troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere, where weather changes occur) will become disrupted, causing enormous shifts in weather patterns.

{Rapid changes in the shape and direction of these air currents will throw weather forecasters into confusion}.

• Drought in certain regions will cause tap water to become more expensive than oil.
• Some cities will evacuate thousands of people because there will not be enough water to meet everyone’s needs. (As we read in Amos 4:7: “I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city.”)
• Earthquakes will strike not only coastal regions, but the Midwest will also experience one devastating earthquake.

{The Mississippi River?}

• A volcano will erupt in the USA.

{Mount Hood?}

• Shaking and eruptions in the Pacific Northwest.

{Even Boise, ID, will be shaken}

• There will be storms with lightning, hail the size of ping-pong balls, and rains that raise water levels by about 50 cm within 24 hours.
• Places where about 90 cm of snow will fall within six hours.
• Tornadoes with winds of 319-379 mph (about 510-606 km/h). Sturdy building structures will be torn down to their foundations and carried great distances. Cars will fly through the air over distances of 100 meters. Trees will be uprooted; even reinforced concrete structures will be seriously damaged.
• Large objects such as cars or refrigerators will cause secondary destruction.
• Tornadoes will appear in unusual places, where they have never occurred before.

{Winter tornadoes!!!}

• Category 5 hurricanes with winds exceeding 180 mph (about 288 km/h) and storm surges that will push floodwaters many miles inland. {this has already come to pass}
• Hurricanes 500 miles (about 800 km) in diameter.
• Unexpected destruction will strike hybrid seed strains and seriously weaken crop yields, causing a food shortage.

{One planted seed will not sprout; another will come up but yield no harvest.}

• On top of that, drought and storm damage will dramatically reduce various harvests, as a result of which the nation’s food reserves will be depleted.
• Pandemic diseases will appear, claiming many lives.
• Signs in the sun, moon, and stars.
• The shield around our solar system will be weakened, and destructive radiation will begin affecting people, causing many serious skin diseases.
• Changes will occur in the earth’s magnetic field, causing large breaches in the shields protecting the Planet, allowing solar winds, in some way, to affect the weather.
• This will also cause serious problems with satellites and communications (aviation disasters).

{Affecting TV reception quality, disrupting military communications}

War:

• A dirty bomb will go off in a port city. Access to this city will be closed for a long time — perhaps a decade or more.

{Is this referring to China?}

• An explosion in a city with many underground tunnels. This will cause the flooding of underground roads and tunnels.
• Israel will experience new, more devastating attacks involving nuclear materials.
• In retaliation, Israel will launch missile strikes.
• Suicide bombing attacks against Israel will reach an unprecedented scale.
• Israel will strike Iran, and antisemitism will intensify as fuel prices rise.
• The Russian Bear will awaken and come out of hibernation.
• Russia will try to create a fuel crisis by seizing control of Ukraine. It will arm Iran to sustain the crisis and inflame the conflict. Russia’s hunger for the money needed to revive its collapsing stock market will push it to invade Ukraine in the hope of reigniting the oil process.
• Russia will provide Iran with support in the form of military equipment, ships, submarines, and missiles — not for their protection, but with the hidden hope that Iran will start a fight with Israel, and that rising oil prices will feed Russia’s nearly bankrupt economy. Putin gained his popularity from developing the Russian economy.
• Deliberate provocation of Russian youth will soon lead to patriotism toward “Mother Russia,” which will produce ongoing international conflict.
• Missiles will be launched from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea toward Israel.
• After the departure of Egypt’s current president, Mubarak, a new terrorist leadership will take his place.
• Pakistan’s terrorist orientation will grow stronger.
• The United States will lose its military supremacy and will bring its troops home from various fronts.

{China is planning, banking on our decline, to become a “superpower.” They are developing a strategy to achieve this.}

Economics:

• A ray of hope will emerge, but only for a brief moment. In this short time there will only be room for righteous people to put their affairs in order — it will not be a time to take on debt.
• Credit card and securities problems will be another domino to fall as unemployment rises and buildings sit empty because tenants cannot pay, which in turn will lead to their owners’ credit default.

{I saw shopping malls where 2/3 of the stores had closed!}

• Deflation, stagflation, inflation, and hyperinflation will follow one after another. Waves are already appearing on the rapidly changing sea of economics. What worked in the past will only prove effective for a short time during this period.
• Investment forecasting will prove more difficult than ever before, but God will guide those investors whom He can trust.
• The dollar will lose its value and become equal to the peso or the Canadian dollar. A new American currency will be established. The Euro has laid the groundwork for something that might be called the Amero-dollar.

{A dangerous currency}

• There will be far more reports of financial corruption uncovered involving politicians, especially senators.
• People will begin growing their own food, and in some cities every scrap of land will be put to use for cultivation.
• In the midst of all this upheaval, a new artificial cornea and iris will be introduced, with a unique ability to adapt the eye to lighting conditions.

Politics:

• Pray for the protection of President-elect Barack Obama. There is a plan to attempt an assassination on his life. The worst could happen.
• Islam wants to spark racial uprisings in the USA as a tool of destabilization and to divert attention from its own actions.
• The world will experience the greatest uprisings in history.

{Hundreds of people raiding luxury homes. They will loot them and then set them on fire.}

• Economic hardship will give rise to street gangs with a Robin Hood mentality.
• Reports of political corruption will increase.
• Terrorist attacks will strike America again, when a “breach” is discovered in the border security system on both the Canadian and Mexican borders.
• A new wave of terror in the air; terrorist groups will work together to blow up airplanes. Targeting a specific aircraft, over the course of two weeks, several people will gradually bring components and explosive materials aboard the plane. These materials will look like parts of a shoe, a belt, briefcases, or other items that can be carried on board. Then their accomplices, who work for the airline in question, will slowly assemble these parts together each time the plane appears at the terminal. In time, the entire device will be ready for detonation. In the final stage, the people who bring in the last parts will leave the airport, and the person carrying the final component will remain on board the plane to detonate the bomb. I know this sounds far-fetched.

{A huge wave of Islamic martyrdom is approaching. Hundreds, even thousands of suicide bombers will volunteer.}

• Farmland will gain great value; people will begin leaving the city for reasons of safety.
• Social security and pension funds will have little value.
• The United States will bring most of its troops home for financial reasons.
• Because of economic hardship, the United States will end many foreign humanitarian programs. As a result of these moves, Islam and international dictatorships will grow stronger.
• Growing lawlessness will find its origin among gay and lesbian groups. In time, reports will emerge of mobs injuring and torturing heterosexual men.
• There will be a rise in “Aryan nation” type activity — one of the bunkers will explode, and nations will be shocked by the level of weaponry stockpiled inside it.

Religion:

• Islam will try to push its ways into the school system. They will be granted rights that Christians do not have.

{Prayer rooms}

• Islam will work systematically to control the government of a major city, among other things through preparing a development and resource-enrichment plan.
• Islam will continue using threats to intimidate and manipulate congressional decisions.
• Islam will launch an initiative to have its own president in the White House by 2024.
• Advances in organ transplant medicine will make it possible for homosexuals to conceive via in vitro fertilization and give birth by cesarean section.
• Many large churches will declare bankruptcy, unable to pay the bills for their enormous buildings.
• Great ministries will scatter due to financial hardship.
• The number of house churches will grow.
• Hidden sexual perversions among church leadership will be exposed, and their number will be staggering.
• Two Patriarchs of the Church will pass away, marking a new and sorrowful era for the church.

God designed this time specifically to capture our attention as effectively as possible.

“Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good!” – Jer 18:11

Is this a warning only for the United States? NO — but it does include the United States.

Four things the Church must do

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” – Heb 13:20-21

First, the Church must return to knowing God and His ways, instead of settling for mere knowledge about God. We have replaced power with programs, revelation with administration, and the Father’s heart with organizational skill.

{We “know about” people from TV, actors, and so on, but we don’t “know” them — it’s the same with God.}

Second, the Church must learn how to pursue faith again. We are weak and fall away far too easily, even when there is no crisis yet within reach. We are untested and we lose our resolve. We know very little about the enemy’s plans.
We cannot speak about our faith without lapsing into anger, and that is why we have so few strong, pure, godly voices in the political arena.
We have lost our testimony — a testimony that convinces others and powerfully declares that God is still God and that He is very, very real. We have lost the testimony that demonstrates that God is a personal God in a very impersonal world — a testimony that says, “What I do proves that God exists.”

{We are meant to be God’s witnesses!}

Third, the Church must return to loving the Word of God and believing it to be infallible and trustworthy. This includes conviction, understanding, and knowledge that God is an absolute, and that there is only one way to know Him: through Jesus the Messiah.
We need a fresh revelation that God’s power is unlimited, His knowledge is infinite, His presence is with us always, and that He never changes. We have made God far too small, and our lives prove it.

Fourth, we must call holy assemblies with fasting and repentance in many places — a set-apart time to tear our hearts before God.

“Now, therefore, says the LORD, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, Spare Your people, O LORD.” – Joel 2:12-17

Crisis is the fruit of following other gods

God allows hardship in order to draw us to Himself. What does this mean? It means that God lets us gather the fruit of whatever it is we serve. Walking in God’s ways brings blessing and fullness of life, while walking the paths of “the god of this world” will produce the fruit of the god of this world: ruin, destruction, defilement, and death. We make the decision, and those decisions shape us.
In the Bible we read that when people went through crises, they turned their hearts toward God, and He heard and took action.

“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” – Jer 29:12-13

May the people of the United States seek the Lord… and find Him.

the perfect storm and the first winds

You don’t have to look far to see the perfect storm and its swelling waves approaching. This topic seems to have captured the attention of many sages and prophets.
Almost every day you can see many signs of the coming Perfect Storm, and notice that I said “coming” — meaning it is not here yet. What we are currently seeing is merely the early winds heralding the storm. We can already sense the smell of rain in the air. Almost everywhere we turn, we become more aware that, without God’s intervention, the world will not look the same ten years from now. And we are right to think so.

I believe we may be living in the time the prophet Jeremiah described as the time of “Jacob’s trouble.”

“For thus says the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave them. But they shall serve the LORD their God.” – Jer 30:5-9

King David, in Psalm 24, wrote a prophetic word for those going through this time of trouble:

“The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah.
Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.” – Ps 24

What are we, who live in the generation of Jacob, to do?

First of all, this is a generation that seeks the Lord’s face — not merely one that knows about Him, but one that draws so close to Him that it beholds His face.

Second, if you meet the conditions, something wonderful will happen. What are these conditions? They are very simple — but not in the culture in which we live!
•    You must have clean hands — hands that do not hurt others.
•    You must have a pure heart — a heart with no hidden motives or agendas of its own that differ from God’s.
•    You cannot be driven by your ego, and you cannot promote yourself.

{Great promises are given to us — but they are a challenge to the Church’s current way of thinking.}

What will happen to Christians in the generation of Jacob?

1.    First, there will be a much clearer definition of the term “Christian” — one that will no longer accommodate the notion of “lukewarmness,” as it does now.
2.    You will ascend the Mountain of the Lord and stand out among those around you.
3.    You will live in the dense, holy presence of God. This means you will hear Him and be led by Him.
4.    Ancient doors will be opened, meaning that spiritual truths that have been hidden for a long time will be uncovered.
5.    The gates of Heaven will open for you. Spiritual concepts that were once difficult or incomprehensible will become clear to us.
6.    The power, strength, and might of the Lord and His hosts will enter your circumstances and situations to fight on your behalf.
7.    Finally, the Glory of the Lord will rest in your home — Selah (meaning: pay attention, or think about this!)

the perfect storm and six ways to survive it

Six things good to know as you go through the storm with grace, prayer, and the glory of God resting upon you.

• Do not overreact to the media hype and news frenzy. Those who run the media have long since realized that sensationalism sells, and they use it for their own purposes. In the midst of the media chaos, God will reveal His secrets to His servants — so seek them out. God cannot be caught off guard. In His omniscience, He is preparing you for this hour. You will not fall. Remember what God said to Jeremiah:

“Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the Gentiles (those who do not know Me); do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles (those who do not know Me) are dismayed at them.” – Jer 10:2

In a state of panic, we tend to make decisions we later regret. Don’t assume the worst, and don’t be afraid. Should you plan? Yes. Is this serious? Yes. But this is not the time to panic.

• Simplify and streamline your life. Which of the things you do are pure convenience? Can you cut back on your luxuries? Keep your current car. Take on a roommate. Maybe cut back on café lattes? Selectively start reducing the areas of your life that do nothing to help your calling or mission, or that don’t have a positive impact on other people’s lives. This will be a time of opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the apostles:

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.” – Acts 2:46

• Build relationships with family and friends. God is your source — not your bank account, not your gold, not your stock portfolio. Your friendships and other relationships are what feed your emotional health and stabilize you; you need them. Studies show that friendships play a crucial role in getting through difficult times. So renew them now. Remember that:

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” – Prov 18:24

• Reconsider what you focus on. You have a choice: you can live by principles or under pressure. Those who “fail” in life usually fix their eyes on their current problems and lose sight of their life’s principles. As things change, it is important to remind yourself of the principles by which you have lived your life until now. Never lose sight of them, especially in difficult times. They will help you stay focused on what matters. The difficulties we are going through now may be God’s alarm, reminding you of your original vision and purpose, and why He made you who you are. Use this time to reflect on and reassess the life you are living. “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint” (Prov 29:18). If you have no vision, you have only one option: to go backward.

• Be someone who has influence. Are you influencing the reality around you? For many, this will be a time of innovation and invention. For others it will be a time of study and preparation for the promotion that will come once this season ends — and it will end, for sure. Don’t chase trends, but study them so you know which direction the culture of this world is heading. You should always be looking for original and innovative ways to meet other people’s needs. Needs will grow, so ask the Lord for solutions that will help meet them, and you will succeed while secular organizations in the same field fail.

• Use this time to listen more. In the coming months, and perhaps years, entirely new needs will emerge for this nation and this country. The Lord wants to give innovative ideas and inventions to those who are close to Him. Take time to listen to Him. Prayer is wonderful, but if all we ever do is present our requests to God, it will be very difficult for us to hear anything from Him. There is much you don’t know about this coming period, and God may want to tell you something about it.

You and I are living in stormy times. The Perfect Storm will keep developing and certainly will not calm down over the next several years.

What are these difficult times really about?

Of course, the perfect storm and difficult times are simply difficult — and may extend far beyond this description. They are often filled with disappointment, frustration, tension, and anxiety. However, if you focus on what you are losing, or could lose, and on how hard your life might become, or on what might happen, you will miss the most important reasons why God allows this kind of season.

What is one of the most noticeable things that sets you apart from your neighbors or coworkers who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus? Isn’t it often exactly how you get through a difficult time? There are four things that must be engraved on your spirit so that you can succeed in a stormy season.

What do you do with your circumstances?

First, in a difficult season it’s not about what happens to you — it’s about what you do with what happens to you.
God, knowing everything, was not ignorant of this area of your life. In fact, He has been preparing you your whole life for this moment and for others that still lie ahead of you. Will you continue believing that He uses everything you go through for the purposes of His Kingdom? Or will you complain along with the many others whose relationship with God is based on their own prosperity? Difficult times test our faith.

You have influence over others

Second, difficult times are about influence. The way you go through a difficult time has a great impact on two groups of people: those who watch how you handle your own weakness, and those who will be changed by the advice you give them.

And I don’t mean the answers you may or may not have — everyone has some kind of answer, but usually a negative one. What I mean here is counsel that gives people hope. Hope that helps them discover a God who knows their potential, a God who takes them on a journey of discovering new possibilities they may have never considered. I’m talking about hope that helps them make different decisions from the ones they’ve recently made. Hope that releases their creativity, while others around them are sunk in hopelessness. Perhaps you yourself need this kind of hope as well.

God allows difficult periods so that important changes can come about as a result. The hope is that, in God’s plans, everything turns out for the better with time. He will once again come to the forefront of our thinking. He will use you to instill this hope in others. God knows the whole future, and He has decided to place you here for such a time as this. He conceived you, formed you, and shaped you for such a time as this. Not only will you make it through, but you will also be an example to others, and your influence will be greater than ever before.

The winning team

Third, these are people who focus on others and guard their words (for example, people who talk about God’s provision and goodness even in the very midst of the storm, people who see His salvation). There has not been a single generation that has not gone through difficult times. Yes, some generations lived through harder periods than others, but the Lord once said to me:

“Small battles bring small victories and shape small victors. Great battles bring great victories and create great victors. Which one would you like to be?”

God’s righteousness and a faithful heart

Fourth, the first thought that comes to many Christians’ minds when they encounter hardship is to cut back or stop giving. Wow — wrong move! It was the faithfulness of the widow of Zarephath, and her sacrificial giving in the middle of a severe drought, that opened the door for her to endure that natural disaster.
Paul encouraged the church in Philippi to give in a way that would be credited to their account.
He encouraged the church in Corinth to hold up the church in Macedonia as an example — the poorest church, which gave to the Lord’s work even in the midst of deep poverty and affliction (2 Cor 8:1-4). When Paul returned to the church in Macedonia a few years later, he found them prosperous.

It is a gift given willingly that allows God’s righteousness to work in your favor. Especially in difficult times, you will truly long for God to act on your behalf! That is why Paul told the church in Philippi that, more than a financial gift, he desired that heavenly fruit would abound in their lives. That fruit is everything God gives to nourish, bless, and meet the needs of those who give for Him.

Closing statement

“My soul yearns for You in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” – Isa 26:9

I believe that the only way to turn back the crisis that lies ahead of us is God’s intervention. This nation must return to its righteous foundations. We have chosen darkness for far too long. We have made God far too small. We seek our own good more than the good of others. We have forgotten the reality of God’s judgment and lost the fear of God. We need change — deep transformation, both personally and at the national level. We need God’s glory and presence to return to our services.

For this to happen, we must repent as a nation. We must cry out with deep sorrow, asking God to forgive us and to remove the strongholds of thought that have separated us from Him.
When this happens in people’s hearts, we will change our laws to reflect righteous convictions grounded in our Creator’s principles, and we will believe what we print on our banknotes: “In God we trust.” It is all a matter of choices!

Wrong choices give birth to a distorted perception of reality, which in turn leads to bad decisions, and these produce bad fruit. That fruit then tends to make further choices from the standpoint of that same faulty perception — the perception handed down from our forebears. Righteous choices will produce righteous fruit! May the people of this nation make righteous choices, and may we become a transformed people.

“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you — the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” – Joel 2:23-27