It has been 2 months since I last wrote of my concerns about the COVID-19 virus. As an Uber driver, I had stayed home for almost two months. Eventually, though, I could not take being home, doing nothing any longer. So, I went back to driving. It has been a little over 4 weeks. This week, however, I have chosen to stay home, and, it is because I am concerned about my health and the health of others, and, I am having symptoms which could be nothing, or, something. I was tested this morning and will have the results in a few days.

I have had the opportunity to talk with a nurse or two while Ubering. And for those of us who thought that maybe this virus isn’t as deadly or widespread as we’ve heard in the media, I have been told that the pandemic is very real. The patients are real. The number of patients, the rising number of patients, and deaths are very real, and hitting home where I live, and in my family back home in Texas.

Uber drivers, as far as I know, were never told to stop driving. Uber did send out a lot of information to help keep the drivers and riders as safe as possible. However, the decision to drive or not was left up to the drivers. When I started driving again, I realized that many, many drivers had stopped driving. And many drivers have not returned. The average time for pick up here in South Carolina is 12 – 20 minutes because of a lack of drivers.

So, last time I spoke about how many Christians, including myself, may have been wondering if this could be biblical. I’m sure that has not gone away for most of us. However, I believe that fear may be driving a lot of what is being said. I don’t believe in fear base faith or religion. I did for many years, but no longer.

I certainly don’t claim to understand prophecy. I don’t think I ever will. I’m not sure that anyone, including “prophecy teachers” understand the scriptures or have a correct interpretation.

That being said about prophecy, as far as I can tell, Jesus came to bring freedom from fear, and, forgiveness for our sin. This is the extent of what I know for sure. He also came to show us the nature and character of His father. Once, Jesus even said to his disciples, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). They were asking him to show them the Father.

However, over the years, Christianity seems to have progressively gone from a message of peace with God and hope of his return to fear, division, and violence. I believe we can get back to hope. The message of Jesus has not changed, it has just been lost over the years. Diluted. Confused.

Our world is in the midst of so much. Racial division, the pandemic, and a slowed economy are weighing heavily upon everyone. Faith, hope, and love are our only.. well, hope. And the greatest of these is Love. Without love, we will only continue to hurt one another, divide ourselves, and grow increasingly fearful. And we have all seen in history what fear brings about: confusion, violence, and bloodshed.

We are a world in crisis. We need an intervention. The Lord has already stepped in 2,000 years ago. Jesus said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (John 12:32). Humanity SHOULD be steadily improving our world and our relationships with one another as a result. And in reality, we have made a tremendous amount of progress. However, we have a long way to go.

As Christians, we are hoping for the return of Jesus. Over the years the prospect of that has become something scary, with lots of violence, destruction, and ending in fire. Like I said, interpreting prophecy has not been all that great. So it is likely we don’t understand what will actually be happening. I personally believe it is something better than what we think it will be. I believe it will ultimately be good. I believe God is good.

Are we at the time of the end? I have no idea. We usually look at tragedies during current events and assume the worst. But we’ve had a host of wars, two WORLD wars, some of the worst natural disasters ever, and the end has not come. We are still fighting about the color of our damned skin! So, who’s to say what is going to happen? I am not a prophet.

I want to follow Jesus. I want Jesus to return. Bottom line, I want to be in God’s immediate presence. I have had about enough of this life we are living. We need to change. We can make it better.