DON’T LET DISASTERS DECEIVE YOU

Mark 13:5-8

⁵ Then Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one leads you astray. ⁶ Many will come claiming to be me saying, ‘It’s me, I am!’ and they will cause many to go astray. ⁷ When you first hear of wars and threats of wars, do not panic; this must take place, but the end is yet to come. ⁸ Because nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be disasters[1] in various places; there will be famines. These events are just the beginning of the birth pangs.

false alarms

The first stirrings of labor can fool even the most attentive parents. A couple rushes to the hospital certain the moment has arrived, only to learn that the child is still settling in, not yet ready to appear. The signs feel dramatic, urgent, unmistakable—and yet they are only the beginning. Jesus said the early signs of the last age work the same way. Every time a new movement pulls people away from Christ, someone declares the end has come. Every time a war tears through a nation, voices rise insisting that history has reached its final page. Every time an earthquake or hurricane devastates a region, predictions flare up again. But Jesus warned His disciples not to mistake these recurring pains for the final moment. They are real, they are sobering, and they matter—but they are not the finish line. They are reminders that we live in the last age, not proof that the age is ending today.

Jesus’ words steady us. He doesn’t want us panicked or naïve. He wants us awake. These signs are like contractions—evidence that something is moving, that God’s story is advancing, that the world is not drifting aimlessly. But they are also reminders that the Father’s timing is patient, purposeful, and often slower than our instincts. The end will come, but not because we misread a headline or react to a crisis. It will come when God says the moment is ripe.

So we watch without fear. We discern without jumping to conclusions. We stay faithful without grasping for predictions. And we trust that the One who began the story will bring it to its true completion.

Lord, help us recognize the signs without being deceived by them. Keep our hearts steady, awake, and anchored in You.

[1] σειζμοι can refer to many types of natural disasters as well as earthquakes.