Is it really all that bad?

I just read a post on David Wilkerson' blog that is quite disturbing for a couple of reasons.

Apparently Mr. Wilkerson feels quite compelled by the Spirit to tell all that will listen that we are about to suffer a calamitous event here in the U.S., most likely in New York City and spreading into New Jersey. Raging fires, rioting and looting will spread across the nation. Basically we are talking the collapse of the social order as we know it.

I am unsure how to receive this bit of troubling news. Its easy to imagine this unfolding as a nuclear event carried out on us by any of several nations or groups that would love to see our demise. Its equally easy to see this unfolding as a complete economic collapse, causing widespread unrest in our cities, starting with the largest like New York.

But the check in me reminds me that this is David Wilkerson. Those who have been around for a while know he has made sensational predictions about the demise of the nation before, most notably with his book "The Vision" in the 70s. So far only the foreseeable predictions have actually materialized.

I am not a critic of David Wilkerson. How can I be? First and foremost he is my brother in Christ. Second, who am I to say what God speaks to him? All I can do is wait and see what comes down the pipe. Either it happens or it doesn't. If it doesn't, then I am a little more cautious when listening to the dire warnings. But still, I don't ignore them. After all, how often do I get it right when trying to hear what God is saying?

Now to flip the coin over...

For some time now, I have felt an urgency to prepare for times where acquiring essential might not be so easy. Mostly this has been concern for what might happen if the economy continues to decline and problems with the supply chain might start to appear.

It was not so long ago that the food "supply chain" meant going to the root cellar or the garden and getting veggies for the day, or going to the market and seeing what the local farmers were offering. There was a day when almost everything we needed was somewhat local in its origin. No more. In this day we have celebrated "globalization". Everything comes from somewhere else, and it is usually from a long ways away. This is all fine and good when times are good and everything is working like it should. But these are not those times. The days are perilous now. Al Qaeda, Iran and North Korea are all threatening to nuke us. Massive greed and fraud and mismanagement for short term gain have brought us to our economic knees. Mexican drug cartels are exporting their violence across our borders.

So what's a guy to do? What sense do we make of all this? Two things come to mind. Prepare and listen. Listen to what God is telling you. Listen to what David Wilkerson believes God is telling him. Listen to what God is telling others that you have some level of confidence in. Prepare to go through tough times. Prepare for when you can't feed your family because the supply chain is broken and there has been a panic run on the grocery stores. Prepare for when you can't get to the store because your local station has no gas.

But don't panic. Don't go off the deep end. Don't go running around telling others the end of the world is at hand. This world and this nation has gone through much tougher times than this and come out the other end. Prepare to be used by God during these times. This is when man's pride and his own ways fail him and he is most receptive to the Gospel. This is when the church will have their opportunity to "let their light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify God".