Everyone is an expert these days about everything! From the origins of the coronavirus to the latest politics, someone out there has the correct answer, and that someone is usually you. With quarantines and stay-at-home orders, we have a lot of extra time on our hands, and people are using it to watch the news, “Google” articles that prove their point, and argue out their opinions on social media. To my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, I beg of you, look up from your screens! You are surrounded by family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are walking through some of the darkest and most confusing days of their lives. They don’t need warnings of possible military threats or cautions that “something is going to happen”. They just need Jesus!
Conspiracy Theories are not a new concept born out of boredom from staying home during a pandemic. They are as old as the Bible. One theory documented in Matthew 27:62-28:15 made such an impact that it is still circulating to this day. As humans, we are prey to deception, which dates back to the beginning of time in Genesis. Eve was tempted, not so much to do something she was told not to, but with the thought that she could be like God, that she could know more than someone else, that she could possibly even know more than God Himself. History has proven over and over that we as humans fall into the trap of deception time and time again.
Satan himself covertly sets this trap. He knows he is doomed in the end. He knows he cannot change God’s plans. So instead, he busies himself with distortion and distraction. And, if we are honest with ourselves, he is really good at both! The truth of what is going on in our nation has been so distorted over the last few months that I don’t know anyone who truly knows what is happening. I also know few people who are willing to admit they don’t know what is happening. Perhaps that is part of Satan’s attack plan; to keep us from admitting what we don’t know. When we come to the point of not knowing, the only thing we can do is rely on God, and that puts a bottleneck into Satan’s plan.
Let’s be real. We already know we are doomed for destruction and disaster. Read the book of Daniel, the Gospels, and Revelation. God isn’t hiding the awful truth from us. He just isn’t giving us dates and times. Once again, history has shown the well-crafted plan of Satan to distract through the many experts who have given us dates and times. And not a single one of them were right. Even Solomon, the wisest person ever to live, fell prey to deception. Why should we be any different?
We ask then: knowing destruction and disaster are certain at some point, do we throw all caution to the wind and do nothing, or do we prepare? We most certainly prepare, but not in the physical sense. Stocking up on canned goods, building a bomb shelter, buying a generator will not save you from the awful reality once it hits. No, our preparations must be spiritual. Our hope is not in what will save us at the moment but in what will save us for eternity! And it is this very hope in and through the finished work of Jesus that we must share with others and ourselves as often as possible. Jesus is our only hope!
Melissa Holmquist is a Pastor’s wife and mother of four in St Johns, MI.
