Had it not been for sporadic, Christian radio and my excitement to join Dave, his daughters and their families, my drive from Kansas to Nevada (the state, not the town) would have caused me great stress.  The second day of my journey, I drove 13 hours, a record for me, the frustration coming because of my attempts to dodge New Mexico’s highway potholes and, being bored, repetitively pushing radio buttons when there was only static in the airways.

On his phone, Dave was able to track my trip, so if I pulled over (like when I thought my tire fell off after hitting a pothole, causing my anti-skid warning light to come on), he would call to make sure I didn’t damage our mini-van or my body.  He did put our son-in-law on the phone to tell me what to do: check under the car for leaks and the tires for alignment, and push a button to turn off the warning light.  A button I never knew existed.

That being said, when I did luck out and found a radio station, I was surprised at the number of radio hosts who spent their time addressing the end times, supporting their ideas with scripture, the war in Israel, and A.I. That seemed to be the discussion for the day, and I began to wonder: Would I make it to Nevada, or would Jesus snatch me up from wherever I was in New Mexico?  According to the radio “experts,” the latter was a very real possibility.

The fascinating study of end times, according to the bible, is called eschatology, and including the 1999/2000 predictions of the world’s end, I’m not sure I have read/seen as many warnings of these final days as I have since Covid. So, what are we to look for?

Matthew 24:6-14 describes Jesus’ prediction to his disciples, sort of his anti-skid warning for all of us.  There will be “wars and threats of wars … famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. … You will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.”

Describing how cold our love will grow, another prediction is found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 where Paul warns the young pastor of life’s potholes in the last days:  “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”                                                                   

What a list!  Yet, it is hard to deny that that is what we are seeing today.  God has watched us remove Him from schools, homes and even churches.  There is little regard for the sanctity of life, sex before marriage is promoted, mental illness and addictions are at an all-time high, churches compete instead of celebrating others’ successes, celebrities (including television pastors) are idolized, cellphone addiction has replaced relationships, counselors are overwhelmed with people feeling “hopeless” and “anxious,” and joy has all but disappeared, including in the Christian community.

As for what day the end will come, the one thing we do know is that there will be no warning light that we can ignore. We also know that we will not add even an hour to our lives by worrying about when this event will happen (Mt. 6:27), we always are to be ready for Jesus’ arrival (Mt. 24:44) by being self-controlled and sober-minded (1 Peter 4:7), and the Lord is patient, wishing that no one should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

So, the next time a radio host focuses on eschatology, I will find another station, one that addresses what we can do until that time: continue to grow in our faith, love more and trust in God.  Or maybe I’ll just pray.  Yes, I like that idea best.