“There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.”- Selina Kyle, The Dark Knight Rises
Whether you live in the mountains, out in the country, by the ocean, or in the middle of a desert, you regularly experience storms of some kind. Be they hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, or dust storms, when any storm occurs, you know exactly what to do and how to prepare for them. Yet, at any age, that does not mean you are not ever scared of them.
When I was in elementary school in Louisiana, there was one summer night when we experienced a severe thunderstorm. My family and I all gathered in my parents bathroom. We all got in the bathtub, laid down on pillows and blankets, and prayed for the storm to end.
It did end, but not without generating a straight-line wind that caused a tree to fall through my parents office upstairs into the kitchen. We were then without power for a week after the storm. Soon after the storm, a team of twenty or so people came from our church to remove the tree and fix our roof and kitchen.
Several months or a few years after that, my MeMaw drove me home one summer day from my Aunt’s in Jonesville, LA back to our house in her Cadilac. Sitting in the back seat, I can remember looking back at the dark and ominous clouds behind us, wishing and praying that we could get away from the storm just by driving away from it. Though time had passed, I was still scared because of the storm my family and I experienced.
Yet, though our family never again faced a storm like the one that damaged our home, we still would encounter literal and symbolic storms in our lives. I know the same can be said be for all of you.
It isn’t news to all of you that the years of 2020 and 2021 have been challenging, to say the the least. Yet, if you follow the news, conspiracy theorists, or certain forms of conservative media, you may be aware of another storm that may or may not be perhaps arriving sooner than later.
It has been widely thought, debated, and even prophesied, by people across the country and around the world, that Donald J. Trump will return to office as President, with some saying that it will be sometime in August.
The possible supposed reinstatement of President Trump comes with a lot of added on conspiracy theories and reveals, far beyond election fraud, that if all are proven true, would at the very least bring down major companies such as Disney, Twitter, and Facebook, and initiate the downfall of many beloved celebrities, politicians, and even certain pastors.
I won’t say any further what my opinions are about these matters. Yet, I will say this. As someone with schizophrenia, this past year has been the most challenging year since I was diagnosed as a schizophrenic sixteen years ago. For those who already had mental illnesses before the pandemic, our shared paranoia was magnified to the extreme over the past year. Once the lockdowns and restrictions began, the darkest threats of things such as: socialism, the “New World Order,” or the “Illuminati” for the first time, felt more like reality than fiction.
Just because there are those who say President Trump is going to return in August doesn’t mean that it will happen. It does not mean that the foundations of our country shall be perfectly renewed and reevaluated, that all hidden evil will be exposed, and that we shall all live “happily ever after.”
God could cause this to occur, or He could not. The return of Christ could be any day now, or it could be years in the future. Only God the Father knows the specific day. It is He who calls the shots and who is really in control.
However, it is through His son Jesus, that He says the following words:
Luke 21:10-17 ESV
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers[a] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
There will come a day when the storms around us, and behind us, will be ended and gone forever. There will come a day when all will be made right, when there are no tears, no pandemics, no vaccines or debates about them, no dissension, no worries, and no pain.
Yet, as long we cling to Jesus and follow Him, He will provide for our every need. He will give us courage to face our storms, to stand for what is right, and to be a witness, no matter what storm comes our way.
In hurricanes, in thunderstorms, in blizzards, in heartache, difficulty, and pain, He will carry us, until we reach the “dawn” of a new day, when we shall all be free.
Until Next Time,
Jacob McGowen
The Adventures of A Warrior 