“Mayday”
is an emergency code used internationally as a distress signal. It was derived from a French word which means,
“Help Me”.
All around the world we are hearing the cry of distress!
“Mayday, Mayday, emergency, somebody please help me!”
is the constant cry.
The word distress means:
“suffering, pain, anguish, agony, grief, misery and sorrow”.
Distress causes mental suffering through grief and anxiety. Mental Health Centers are inundated with those whose minds are snapping under the pressures of life. No matter where you go and no matter what you do, you can’t seem to turn it off!
Things are happening at an accelerated rate of speed until we are hardly over one shocking event until we face another. FEAR torments the minds of people as they are filled with anguish as to what will happen to their quality of life, when and if this pandemic ever ends. There are already those who are talking about the next wave or the next disease.
Distress is caused by
“danger or difficulty”;
these are dangerous times, these are uncertain times, and these are times in which every day, we hear the cry of distress!
The Lord recognizes how that during these stressful and perplexing times that we will be tempted to be discouraged or to try and find a means of escape. He understands how the anxieties of life can be overwhelming! He says,
“Don’t let that happen to you!
Don’t get so overwhelmed that you lose sight of the coming of the Lord!"
In fact, when you see these things, start looking up! We are near the coming of the Lord, the judge stands at the door.
The Old Testament prophets foretold the ruin and distress of Israel during the Great Tribulation period, which is referred to as the
“time of Jacob’s trouble”.
Jeremiah exclaimed,
“Cries of fear are heard – terror not peace”.
What an awful day that will be, there will be none like it in the history of the world!
Daniel 12:1 (Amplified Bible)
“And there shall be a time of trouble and distress such as never was since there was a nation till that time.”
There is such confusion and perplexity! No one seems to know why there is such distress but
these things are but a prelude of what is to come!
Some of the older folks can tell you about the great depression after President Roosevelt declared war, when food had to be rationed. Meat, cheese, canned goods, sugar, butter, shoes and gasoline were all rationed. You could only get 12 ounces of sugar a week, a pound of coffee would have to last 5 weeks, one pair of shoes had to last for two years, and when the coupons were used up in the ration books, you were out of luck until the next period.
Those days are coming again but on a much larger scale! Revelation Chapter 5 tells of a black horse,
(famine)
and a rider having a set of scales. It is a picture of rationing of food and people standing in lines due to the scarcity of food. A measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny. Barley was a cheap form of wheat used mostly for livestock, but a small ration will cost a penny but not as we think of a penny. The reference is to a
“denarius
” which represented a day’s wages. Food will become awfully expensive if you can even find it! The days of going down to the local market or Walmart will be over!
During the Civil War more soldiers died from disease than were killed in battle.
During the 1918 influenza pandemic, the number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide.
What we are experiencing today is a wake up call. The alarms are going off! The sirens are sounding, and the lights are flashing. This is no time to be holding grudges, harboring bitterness or unforgiveness. This is a call to repentance and to revival!
Mayday, mayday, emergency, God help us!
Psalm 121:1-2
1
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
