Here we are folks, on the fourth day of this new year and things are about as dismal for the country – indeed for the whole world – as I’ve ever seen in my 72 and 1/2 years here. As of this post California is enduring some of the worst flooding and coastal erosion they’ve ever had. The Pacific Ocean seems to have declared war on the whole west coast. Even as far up as Alaska, there have been record snowstorms that have actually dropped so much snow that sailboats are sinking in harbors from the sheer weight of the accumulations.
The north central parts of the US are experiencing snow squalls and blizzards the like of which have not been seen in our lifetimes. The UP of Michigan, and much of the rest of the state are buried in feet of snow, as are Upstate New York and other areas around the lakes. For some odd reason(s) no one seems to be able to explain, the water level of Lake Erie is dropping drastically.
In other parts of the world, the massive time bomb of Campi Flegrei in Italy keeps cooking inside and raising the land of Pozzuoli as it threatens to explode in what might be a cataclysmic super eruption. If it goes off, no one knows how much of the western flank of Italy will be obliterated, nor what effects it will have on the rest of the world. Volcanoes, many of which were deemed to be dormant have exploded with unexpected eruptions. There have been some 60 eruptions around the world in the past year. Many extremely powerful eruptions such as the Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia, the big volcanoes in Kamchatka, and Sumeru and others in Indonesia are currently erupting or have recently. I’m no geologist, but if the Tambora eruption of 1815 could create atmospheric conditions that caused an entire year without a summer, is it too farfetched to imagine that dozens of big volcanoes going off simultaneously such as are today might do the same thing? Might that be why we’re seeing such extreme winter weather in the northern US, Europe, and Russia?
Widespread droughts, such as the ones in the southwestern US, Iran, and places in Africa are making water a valuable resource. Rivers around the world, many being lifelines through nations, are drying up at a phenomenal rate. Even the Mississippi has seen periods in recent years where it has become unnavigable for the volume of traffic it has served. Perhaps runoff from the voluminous snows in the high Sierra this winter will help with water shortages next spring in Lakes Mead and Powell, but that’s not a permanent solution for the huge requirements of agriculture out west that keep increasing with populations.
As if weather-related or other natural phenomena weren’t enough to foment worldwide pessimism, we also have war, pollution, and other man-made issues that do not bode well for humanity’s future. If a fraction of money and resources were dedicated to improving our lot as are to destroy each other’s nations and kill people, I have no doubt that mankind could drastically improve our collective world, but as long as wealth can be concentrated into the hands of the few who crave more and more, that’s not going to happen. The recent invasion of Venezuela in preparation for massive oil theft won’t be the last act in this production. Satan has a plan for all of humanity, and it doesn’t look good at all for those who opt to face the last days of our future without the benevolent guidance of Jesus Christ – rich or poor.
We have a great and passionate Savior who desires our fellowship and is willing to give us the support and compassion that will take us safely through these troubled times. He promises to give us rest, to give us a reason to hope, not especially for this time of trial, but beyond it. We too often make the mistake of imagining the end of this life to be a huge dark wall representing the end of all things, but there is hope on the other side and we need to be thinking about the other side of it and not about the piteous remains of this side. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that we are facing problems in this world that are of such monumental proportions that we cannot overcome them – neither the natural ones, nor the manmade. Jesus Christ promises that He has something reserved for us on the other side of the big fearsome wall. There is a gate through it, a narrow gate that we must direct all of our energy towards finding. It can be found, but only if we but listen and heed the words of Jesus, but if we continue to ignore His offer of salvation, there is indeed a dark future ahead.
As the darkness approaches, we have crucial choices ahead of us – we can continue to hope to survive whatever the world throws at us, but whatever existence we might come to, no one in their right mind could imagine it to be a prosperous, enjoyable existence. At best we might all become beggars or slaves, watching our loved ones perish for lack of food or medical help, or become tribal hunter-gatherers with hardly a chance at long-term survival, or we can resolve to follow the only One who offers us real hope of an eternal future. Jesus came to save the world, but only if we give Him the keys and let Him take us where we need to go. That’s the only way to real survival – in a very real paradise of eternal joy where there will be no worrying nor suffering of any kind. Jesus is preparing a mansion there for each of us who choose to answer His calling. [John 14:2-4]: “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
With the condition of the world deteriorating around us like it is, it’s beyond irrational to continue to hope for things to get better here in the world, but if we set our sights on the promises of Jesus, we have every reason to hope for the (long-term) future. Get right with Him today – for a far brighter future than anything we can hope for here.
May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us as the time draws near.
MK
