When I woke up in March 2020, it was a like I was in the Twilight Zone; surreal.  As time slid by, it started to feel like I was living in Biff Tannen’s alternate parallel universe in Back to the Future.  We were flung into a world of sickness, death, corruption and deception; everything was wrong.   

Enduring the Covid19 pandemic in the last few months has not been easy for any us.  Like with all viruses, many have shifted exponentially to a new normal.  Many are now working from home, schools are taught online, shopping in stores means wearing a mask, and we are sterilizing everything.  Relationships have shifted to standing 6 feet apart and even further with texting, calling and posting on social media.  We all realize,  there’s no going back to the old normal.

Although there have been viruses around for ages, with Ebola killing 90% of the people it infected.  Other viruses are:  Smallpox (300 million have died), the Spanish Flu (50 million have died), HIV (32 million have died), seasonal Flu (500,000 die in a flu season), and the list goes on.  You may recall the most fatal pandemic in recorded history was the Black Death (also known as the Plague), which killed an estimated 75–200 million people in Europe from 1347 to 1351.

My mother and father both had Tuberculosis (TB) back in 1950.  At the time, there was no cure, people were just sent to sanitoriums in hopes their lungs would heal.  TB is still the world’s deadliest infectious disease.  To put things in perspective, last year alone 10 million fell ill from TB and 1.5 million died.  Today, 4,000 people a day die from it.  The World Health Organization estimates that 1.8 billion people—close to one quarter of the world’s population have been infected with TB.  No one wore masks.  My mother and father were both quarantined for a year in a sanitorium offering rest, nourishing meals, sun, fresh air and some socialization.  This was an era before the advent of antibiotics; there was no cure.  There was hope though – my mother and father met in isolation and would later get married. 

Let’s contrast all of these with Covid19 virus.  This virus can certainly make you sick for weeks on end and I know of a couple of people personally who has died from it; the tragedy is real.  However, as of this writing, 5 months into the virus, there is a 99% survival rate.  What is interesting is the media has put everyone in a state of utter fear.  Governors have forced us all to wear masks, businesses were asked to close (except a few), and churches and schools shut down.  People are wondering when self-quarantine at home will end.   

The Democrat mayors (currently in 64% of the largest US cities) and governors are coming down hard recently.  Just to name some things in the news this week … the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, has declared he will shut off power and water to homes who have large parties.   The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is prohibiting in-person worship and singing in churches; pastor John McArthur is defying that order.  The governor of New York, Bill de Blasio, (a self-declared Socialist) is now going to stop people who enter New York (Coronavirus Checkpoints) and ask them questions (like a stop and frisk).  If you come from other “hot” states, you’ll have to self-quarantine for 14 days.  It almost seems they all are vying for dictator of the year.   

In addition to a pandemic, we watch on TV rebelliousness, lawlessness, looting, destruction of statues and buildings, and rioters blinding policemen with lasers in Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland; all attributed to the well-funded fascist groups Antifa and Black Lives Matter.  Just this past week, they were burning Bibles and the America Flag.  Defunding/abolishing the police is already happening.  We are in a time of growing lawlessness.  “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”  Matthew 24:12

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6–7

“I have learned in whatever situation I am [coronavirus or not] to be content.” Philippians 4:11

God didn’t design you for defeat.  Even though it feels like evil is consuming us, each and every day you have a choice.  You can either concede defeat or live in the victory God has promised us. 

We have been blessed to live in a period of prosperity and protection.  God has allowed these things to happen in 2020 and I suspect it’s because America has turned away from God.  The Pew Research has found that only 65% of Americans describe themselves as Christians.  The trend is moving downward every year, as the population of Generation X and Millennials identify as non-Christians.   America, once a Christian nation, is denying God with each passing year.   If they don’t want Him around, then let it be so.  God will lift His hand of protection on our land.  I am praying that during this time of uncertainty, when things are out of your control,  that people will turn to the one who is in control.  We’ve already seen that happen in Newport Beach, CA.  

We may have to endure many more fear-provoking things to come hurricanes, earthquakes, volcano erupting, etc.   Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”  Matthew 24:6-8 

For many Christians we see the signs; we know the Rapture will happen soon.  Jesus said, “And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Matthew 16:3  

Rapture is a term used when the church (believers in Christ) will suddenly be “snatched up”, “raptured”  before the 7-year Tribulation occurs; the end times.   Believers will be saved from the terrible wrath that will be poured out on mankind.  “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”  1 Thessalonians 1:10.   All things are in place; the technology is here; everything is in motion.  

If you are not a believer, which means you have rejected Christ and God’s free gift of salvation, you should be very concerned about the coming wrath of unrestrained evil.  Living through the 7-year Tribulation, will be the worst existence ever imagined.  Make peace with God today.  Believe that God sent his only son, Jesus, who willingly took on your sins. Jesus died for you. 

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9