Hope...is what we need.

Random killings.

Wars.

Floods.

Disasters.

I can't help but think about the sayings of Jesus and the book of Revelations. The references to the end-times were always a bit of a mystery to me. Yet Jesus spoke often of the times when we would see more and more signs of His return.

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. But in those days, following that distress, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'...No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. - Mark 13

I spoke with my cousin a few days ago about a sermon she heard her pastor give about Jesus's return...he urged people to keep in mind that "no one knows the hour"...but that someday Jesus would return to judge the world. It could today, tomorrow, a week, or hundreds of years from now...but it will happen when we see signs of trouble in the world. Disasters, floods, people dying, wars, and an increase in these things around the world. My cousin shared that she felt convicted after hearing her pastor's words that life was short and that she needed to make the most of the gifts she had been given to pursue her music career and honor God with the time she had on earth...it made me think about how my decisions and choices in life might be informed by the knowledge that Jesus would return again someday...and that God will judge all that we did, the choices we made, how we lived our lives.

And what does one do in a situation when everything seems to be falling apart in the world?

God has known from the beginning of time all that would happen and all that is to come. He said that someday there would be a 'new heaven and a new earth,' but not before we saw some pretty bad things happen first.

Sound simple? Maybe it is. But he also said the wisdom of God would shame human knowledge and wisdom. His message was so simple that even children could understand it. And yet it is sometimes hard to understand.

I pray that we would come to focus our eyes on Him and that more people would see why we need His hope in a time of uncertainty, why we need a Savior.

"The battle is not between flesh, but in the spiritual realms."