This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
There is "a heaviness" in society today, said pastor and bestselling author Max Lucado of San Antonio, Texas, in an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital — yet there's a fix for it as well, he also said just as his newest book was being published.
"There's a lack of hope, especially among teenagers, where the suicide rate is continuing to increase," he said. (See the video at the top of this article, and another video within this piece.)
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"Overall, the suicide rate is the highest it's been since World War II. We feel like we're trapped. We don't have a clear understanding. And my experience has been that clarity about the future grants courage for today."
This is why he's written his newest book, "What Happens Next" — and he revealed its deeper premise and the actions that all people can take, including those of faith, no matter their particular phase of life or situation.
"All my life, I've been fascinated with what the Bible has to say about the end times," said Lucado.
Yet "only in recent years have I become obsessed with understanding what is about to happen. And I think there are two reasons."
He said his next birthday — coming up in January — "will require 70 candles on the birthday cake. And I don't know if I'll have a fire extinguisher that will blow them all out or not," he added with a smile.
Yet "as you get older," he said, "to be quite honest, you just start wondering. And I have many more friends in heaven than I do on Earth. So I began thinking, Where do we go when we die? What is it? What is God's plan for how this world gets wrapped up?"
Common questions such as these among older people, he said, have been "accelerated by all the things going on in the world today."
He said the study of the "end times" can be "intimidating and frightening for many people. I've had so many people say, 'I don't even want to talk about end times because I'm afraid of it.'"
But Lucado believes that such a position is "unfortunate."
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He reassured all who may feel that way that "according to the Bible, what happens next should be a source of great encouragement and hope. Jesus told His followers, and He tells us, 'Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. And if it were not so, I would not have told you. I'm going there to prepare a place for you.'"
So "with these words and many more like them, Jesus urges us to look toward the future without fear but with faith."
The focus on hope, he said, is "very, very helpful, I think, in that we can hang in there during difficult times, that we can overcome the fears that we have, because we know that these difficult days are going to last just for a moment — and we have reason to pray. Just kind of pray it through."
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He added, "Whenever you feel anxiety, or you watch the news and you feel like you want to climb in a hole or cover your head with a pillow — just pray. Pray. And open yourself to explore what is about to happen."
Lucado related an anecdote from his growing-up years as a real-life analogy.
"When I was young, my dad would take us on long camping trips. My brother and I got so excited, and he would tell us everything we were going to see, even though we'd never been to New Mexico or Colorado or Utah. He would tell us all about it.
"And we got so excited because we trusted my father.
"It's the same with God. We can trust Him and get excited [about the future]. In this book, I try to unpack what's happening right now in paradise. For those loved ones of ours who have already gone into the presence of Jesus, I try to unpack what heaven is going to be like for those who believe in Christ."
He added, "I've tried to be equally honest and talk about the tragedy that awaits those who reject Christ. But I do think we can all explore this. And through that confidence, we find courage to face the future."
Lucado noted that the Bible has "more than 300 references to the return of Jesus."
And "so the idea is that the Christian lives life on tiptoe. We're looking for the return of Christ. We're expecting it. We believe it could happen at any moment. And that is the reason for hope — reason for joy."
When his three daughters were small, Lucado related, "when they were in the diaper and then toddler stage, there would always be nose prints and fingerprints on the window next to the front door. In those days, I would enter the house through the front door and they'd hear that 'Dad's on the way home,' and they would all run to the window and they would stand there."
"They couldn't wait for me to come home. They were looking for me to come home."
The Bible, said Lucado, "says that there is a blessing for those who are looking for the return of Christ. We can begin and end every day by saying, ‘Come today, Lord, come today.’"
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Said Lucado, "God's ultimate answer to the struggles and suffering in the world is not to be found in this life — but to be found in the next life."
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Watch "What Happens Next: An End Times Town Hall With Max Lucado" available now on Fox Nation.
