Be not surprised for the end is coming

The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
(1 Peter 4:7-8)

Like storm clouds in the distance so is the end of this life as we know it. God is preparing His people for this fearful and wonderful event, He prepares us in ways that we are unfamiliar with and even though we can see the end if we are not careful we can be caught off guard. Did Jesus not suffer in order to bring a pleasing sacrifice to His Heavenly Father? Are we not followers of Christ and therefore His disciples? Then what makes us think as true followers we would not also suffer so that our sacrifices might also be pleasing to our Heavenly Father? It does not matter from where the suffering comes from but it does matter why we suffer. Are you suffering because of sinful choices or are you suffering because of living for Christ? It’s not always so clear cut. To live as a sinner before coming to Christ and then turning your life over to Him you suffer because old friends don’t understand the change that has taken place in you is good and God is pleased. What about bad decisions made as a Christian, through God’s discipline you are faced with the wrong you’ve done and then you change, does that suffering count as good or is it because of selfish living? In the end the only thing that matters is a continual growing relationship with Jesus Christ and that you put into practice the things He leads you to do. Be thankful He cares for His children enough to correct them and know the suffering for Christ’s sake is necessary to bring about the change that is required to be called His. Do not run from this correction, it’s time to stop running but instead trust God that He knows what He is doing and that His love is far beyond that of the love of man.

Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world. So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. [On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.] If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people's affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by His name!
(1 Peter 4:12-16)

For daylight will soon be gone and there is a calling to come in before it is too dark so that we don’t stumble and fall and lose our way. You see in the daylight we cheerfully played as children but as darkness grows closer there is an urgency that was not known before. In that urgency we will be tested and tried as a departure from the things we have known are removed from us. At that point we can either trust God or turn from Him as spoiled children.

For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God's household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's Good News? And also, "If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?" So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for He will never fail you.
(1 Peter 4:17-19)