Editorial – The Mercy of God

It has been widely forecasted during the last two years that the price of petroleum would skyrocket and that the price of gasoline would double or more in the very near future. While we are not prognosticators of future events in the worldly sense, we do have a mission to perform in this world before Revelation 18 is fulfilled. This mission is to take the Three Angels’ Messages to the world.

It was predicted, in 1900, “We have no time to lose. The end is near. The passage from place to place to spread the truth will soon be hedged with dangers on the right hand and on the left. Everything will be placed to obstruct the way of the Lord’s messengers, so that they will not be able to do that which it is possible for them to do now. We must look our work fairly in the face and advance as fast as possible in aggressive warfare. From the light given me of God I know that the powers of darkness are working with intense energy from beneath, and with stealthy tread Satan is advancing to take those who are now asleep, as a wolf taking his prey. We have warnings now which we may give, a work now which we may do; but soon it will be more difficult than we can imagine.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 22.

When this prediction was made, it was still possible to travel freely to most parts of the world. There was not then the difficulty of obtaining visas to visit certain countries that there is today. The lack of freedom imposed on peoples by totalitarian governments and the violent war against Christianity that developed with the advent of Atheistic Socialism or Communism had not yet occurred. The world was not nearly so violent in 1900 as it is today.

One of the difficulties that must be met in spreading the Three Angels’ Messages is the worldwide economic crisis. Several months ago, Steps to Life decided to financially assist a brother, who was directly involved in public evangelism which it was supporting, so he could drive his vehicle for necessary travel associated with the meetings. Before the evangelistic project was completed, it was learned that additional funding must be sent, because from the time of the original allocation until the end of the evangelistic project, the cost of gasoline in the area had nearly doubled. This is just one illustration of how economic forces impact God’s work in this world.

The time is coming when the financial problems of this world will make it impossible to do what we can do right now. Everything in the modern world is done with energy derived from petroleum, and the price of petroleum directly affects the price of everything, including taking the Three Angels’ Messages to the world.

Recently, a large source of oil has been found in the Gulf of Mexico, and new technology is available for extracting oil from shale in the Rocky Mountains for less than $25 per barrel. These two developments have helped the price of oil to decrease and have provided us with another small window of opportunity to finish God’s work.

We at Steps to Life have been praying that the Lord would help us to step through every door that He opens up to us for the finishing of His work in this world. In great mercy, God has held the shaky economies of our world together a little longer, so that we might take the final message of warning and mercy to every inhabitant of this planet in rebellion. Are you determined to step through every door of opportunity that God gives to you to get the final message to every inhabitant of this world?