Very soon Jehovah’s patience with this world will end. False religion will be destroyed, a coalition of nations will attack God’s people, and Jehovah will execute the wicked at Armageddon. Christians look forward to these momentous events.

Of course, we do not know all the details about the great tribulation. For example, we do not know exactly when it will begin. We do not know what reasons the political powers will use to justify their attack on religion. We do not know how long the nations’ attack on God’s people will last or what it will include. We also do not know the precise means that Jehovah will use to destroy the wicked at Armageddon.

However, the Scriptures give us all the information we need in order to face the future with confidence and courage. For example, we know that we are living at the end of “the last days.” (2Ti 3:1) We know that the attack on religion will be “cut short” so that the true religion will not be destroyed. (Mt 24:22) We know that Jehovah will rescue his people. (2Pe 2:9) And we know that the One whom Jehovah has chosen to execute the wicked and preserve the great crowd through Armageddon is righteous and powerful.​—Re 19:11, 15, 16.

Future events will certainly cause people to become “faint out of fear.” However, by reading and meditating on Jehovah’s past saving acts and on what he has revealed about the future, we can “stand up straight and lift up [our] heads,” confident that our deliverance is near.​—Lu 21:26, 28.