As 2021 spreads out before us, you can smell it in the air: fear. You can see it in news headlines worldwide and in the social-media posts of friends. People are afraid of what the future will soon bring. Bible prophecy adds another layer of dire detail as it paints a picture of the chaos that will unfold before our Redeemer returns.

In this world where fear is a given, what is the state of our hearts as sons and daughters of God? Are we hunkering down and hiding from the future, or are we running toward it at full speed, throwing off whatever slows us down?

AFM missionaries make this choice decisively. Laying aside lives of comfort and familiarity, they become highly-trained and fiercely dedicated operatives at the cutting edge of a global effort to speed up earth’s collision with eternity. Their work is not part of some shadowy new conspiracy, but an ancient plan conceived in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. And its final execution is at least 150 years overdue.

“If all who had labored unitedly in the work of 1844 had received the third angel’s message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts . . . . Years ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing work would have been completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of His people” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 115).

How do you feel about the future? Are you holding onto today or striving for tomorrow? The future is unfolding according to a divine blueprint, and there is much work to be done. What part will you play?

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