The other day I sat staring into the Missouri River, seeing the odd turbulence that boiled up unexpectedly within its depths…Bubbles and turmoil. Strange eruptions arising from unseen sources.
I watched them warily. They were like the troubles brewing beneath the surface in America.
Our government officials have warned us for years of a coming crisis—a pandemic, or natural calamity, or massive terrorist strike or even an economic collapse. But we haven’t prepared. We can’t conceive of such a catastrophe.
Our idea of a crisis is losing an e-mail in cyberspace somewhere, or running out of pretzels during a Superbowl game. A massive EMP strike that melts down the wiring of every computer and electronic device in our homes, stores, gas stations and workplace …?
It’s beyond our comprehension!
In the face of widespread devastation, our society dissolves into hunger, chaos, and lawlessness. How many years—even decades—had experts predicted the arrival of a devastating hurricane and flood to New Orleans, and yet neither the government nor the citizens were prepared!
Katrina should’ve been a wake-up call to every American.
We should’ve recognized our extreme vulnerability. But people just shrugged it off and said: “It can’t happen to me.”
Our military has been stretched to the limit in the last few years, and so has our financial resources. China loans us countless billions to finance this Iraq war, and we can’t even pay the interest. Wall Street and the US economy face grave uncertainties which affect stock markets around the world.
What if events spiral out of control (like the Bible predicts they will)? What if the madman of North Korea decides to launch a nuclear-armed missile? What if the crazed leader of Iran puts a chokehold on our oil flowing through the bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz? He has already declared his willingness to start World War III. He’s already warned that he will soon strike our ally Israel to wipe her from the face of the earth.
The U.S. will be forced to retaliate. Our overstretched military will be embroiled in war on several fronts—something that our Generals have warned us against. We’ll be launched into the throes of World War III. And it could happen overnight.
Our abundant gas supply would dry up. Our lavishly-stocked store shelves would become barren. The repercussions would be catastrophic to modern culture…a coddled society without cellars and gardens and home-made remedies…A society dependant on government pensions and welfare and piped-in necessities. We aren’t adventurous, pioneers like our forefathers were. We’re pampered and coddled, and we’ll wilt in the face of a modern-day Alamo.
We have no Davy Crocketts, or Daniel Boones in our midst.
In spite of the obvious dangers, Americans have fallen into apathy—even Christians who know of the Bible’s dire predictions for our generation. We’ve heard the warnings of impending disaster for so long that we’re no longer stirred. We yawn and peruse the internet, and watch our favorite sit-coms. We continue napping in our cocoon of denial….We wallow in our It-can’t-happen-to-me mindset.
The voices of warning are growing louder. The few Paul Reveres that we have in our generation are shouting frantically, but who is listening?
ABC News just did a report on the regrouping of Al Qaeda and the increasing likelihood of a massive terrorist strike on U.S. soil. Other news services are beginning to echo the cry. Our officials are discussing bio-terrorism and a “spectacular terrorist strike unlike any we’ve ever seen.” Will it cause lawlessness amongst citizens like Katrina did in New Orleans? Will our government over-react and take away every freedom that Americans still possess? Will martial law prevail?
God has the answers to these questions. I don’t.
All I know is that we’ll never survive the coming calamity, without God’s help. Adventurous or not, we’re no match for terrorists’ bombs or a smallpox pandemic…But with the help of the Almighty, we will prevail.
I hope. I pray.
Our ancestors learned to live in turbulent circumstances. They forged this very river with all its turbulence. They cleared the land with a strong sense of faith and adventure that carried them through every trial they faced.
And now we must rise to the challenge before us and prepare for the inevitable in a way that would make our forefathers proud. They wouldn’t want the land that they tamed to disintegrate into a nation of looting and lawlessness. They’d want us to calmly make contingency plans for our children and our children’s children. They planned ahead for us. We must do likewise.
And we will…with God’s help.
I stared at the waters of the Mighty MO swirling below me, then got to my feet. Stretching my stiff muscles, I brushed the sand off my clothes. My notebook had slid to the ground—its pages sprawling open in the dirt. I stared at the words I’d scribbled across the bottom of the page…..
“Remember the Alamo!
Remember September 11th.
Remember Katrina with all her calamity.
Prepare for trouble accordingly, because…
Ready or not, it will come!”
