Whenever we go through difficulties and times of crisis, the mental task we must face is to make some kind of sense of what is happening to us. The human brain struggles with things that we cannot comprehend. I often refer to this mental phenomenon as “trying to make sense out of something that does not make sense.” We eagerly and often desperately seek out information from multiple people and sources. We seek out people to talk to. We read everything we can find on the subject. We turn to multiple media sources. We look to the “experts.” We look for something familiar that we have experienced or someone we know who has gone through something similar. We might even look up Bible verses. We look for a hero in all the confusion of trying to make things make sense. We look for a savior, someone to rescue us and tell us that we will be Okay. Often we look to a parent, friend, counselor or pastor to emotionally walk with us through difficult times.

I think this has a lot to do with what is happening right now as we all deal with this current unprecedented COVID pandemic crisis, and other co-occurring traumatic current events including racial stress and violence.  We hear the word “unprecedented” in nearly every reference to COVID. No plague of this scope and magnitude has ever happened before. No one can predict how, when, or if it will end or even determine how it started. The projected models are human efforts to understand and get control, but they fall short and change daily. If ever there was a time we needed a Savior to help make sense of what does not make sense, it is now. What does make ultimate sense is to turn from the science god of this world to GOD, the Creator of this world.

I believe that when we turn to God in His Word, a lot of things start to make sense. In multiple places in the Old Testament and in the New Testament book of Revelation, we are told of the Rapture, the anti-Christ, the Tribulation, the Battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of Christ. God tells us these things in His Word so that we will be informed, prepared, and ready. It is not His intention to frighten us but rather to save mankind from eternal judgment. He does not want us to be ignorant of the coming Day of the Lord. God does not want anyone to miss the Rapture of believers and be left behind.

There is currently significant interest in biblical prophecy and eschatology, the study of end times and the final events of history. Pastors and Bible teachers are appropriately teaching prophecy series these days. This is not to alarm their people but to prepare them for coming future events. It is both timely and essential to help believers make sense of troubling current events.

Are we living in the Last Days? The answer is Yes. No one knows God's exact timing, but it is wise to know the biblical signs and be alert. God is patient and long suffering, but He will not tolerate sin indefinitely. America has been actively turning away from God through disobedience and outright defiance for decades. As with the children of Israel in the Old Testament, God's patience will come to an end, and He will judge our sin and the sin of the world.

What can we do? We can turn to Jesus and accept His salvation if we have never done so. (If you already know Him as Savior, you can repent of any unconfessed sin.)

“Dear Father God, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son, and that He died on the cross for my sin. He took upon Himself the payment for my sin. He died and was buried, and on the third day He rose again. He now sits at your right hand in Heaven advocating for me. I trust Him as my Savior and invite Him to be Lord of my life from this day forward. Please direct my life and help me to daily choose to walk by faith in your way. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”

“. . . . if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14

 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ….” Psalm 33:12

Looking to Jesus,

Elsie