You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24: 6-8 (NIV)

For years, I've had a feeling, deep in my gut, that something was going to happen. Some of you may remember the predictions that I made about the “mini ice age”, the coming food shortages and the general unrest that the world was about to experience. While I stand by those predictions, I didn't see this current crisis, that truly is of monumental proportions, coming.

I sincerely believe that people are making this much worse than it needs to be—just my opinion. But there are many reasons about which each and every one of us should be concerned. After all, you simply can't have a crisis without people. I, personally, worry more about the actions and reactions of people during this emergency than I do about the emergency itself. By-and-large, people are irrational creatures. We tend to act impulsively based on current needs. Have you ever heard that you should never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? Well, with what's going on right now, multiply the craving that you develop for Twinkies (as you're passing the shelf in the store—that you were trying to ignore—where they're kept) by about … oh … say … a thousand, and you'll get an idea of what motivates people to do what they do.

They panic buy.

If you've visited the grocery store—any grocery store—in the past few weeks, you've seen exactly what I'm talking about. Empty shelves; people fighting over toilet paper, tissue, hand towels, etc.

This is where we Christians come in.

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. Isiah 26:20 (NIV)

If you are able, stay home! If you aren't, then be the example, be the light of Jesus for everyone who you encounter, to see. Make them wonder what makes you act the way you do, and hopefully, they'll see in you what they'd like to see in themselves. We are Christ's representatives. His ambassadors. We have an incredible opportunity to show the lost what it is to be a Christian. We are not what they think we are! They only know about us what they've seen in the movies or on TV. Or worse, they've been there in church on Sunday, seen those of “us” who have taken off the spiritual cloak that they wore to the church service, and tossed it in the floorboard behind the seat, on Monday—gulp!

That ain't us!

God has challenged us with this crisis! How will you respond?

What-so-ever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.

Today is the day. Now is the time. The battle is on!

G. J. Fortier is a member of Ironmen Ministries and First Baptist Church, Centerville, GA. Look for his novels on Amazon on Kindle and paperback. Or visit his website at www.GerardFortier.com