The world is in chaos.
Countries are firing missiles at one another; governments are struggling to control divided, and increasingly less cooperative, populations; people are up in arms against each other, and truth is evasive.
The world needs Jesus.
I was speaking to a friend of mine the other day, who spoke of peace as the ultimate ideal. Of course, everyone wants peace. Everyone wants to go to sleep at night knowing that they and their loved ones will wake up the next day to a world they want to live in. And yet, peace is evasive.
Take the current border crisis, for instance. There are two main ideologies in America, and two others involved. The first, says that everyone deserves the luxuries our country has to offer, and everyone should be welcomed and treated as citizens; the second, recognizes the desperation of those who are trying to come here, but also knows that there's no way our country could care for everyone without quickly becoming like the country they were escaping from. The second group thinks it necessary to limit the number of people allowed to come to America, to protect everyone involved, and to ensure that we continue to stay in a position where we can supply humanitarian aid to others. Both groups ultimately want the same thing, but their perceived "best method" is different. Even in the quest for peace, there is conflict.
The other two groups involved are those chasing the hope of a better life for themselves and their families, and those who are set on exploiting those who are desperately pursuing a better life. Politicians quarrel amongst themselves as to the best course of action, Americans bicker about what SHOULD be done and who should decide, and meanwhile families are torn apart and children are abducted and sold to be trafficked in our country or others. Who is the real enemy? Well, the real enemy is Satan, but we have become so nearsighted that the people we're most at odds with are our neighbors who simply don't agree on the best course of action. Even though we share a common goal.
So, what do we do? How do we fix something that is so utterly broken? The short answer is, we can't. Not alone. But, if we can begin to extend love and grace to others- as Jesus said- then things will start to change.
Our society has decided that it's important to teach people, from the earliest age, all the way they can be hurt and just how entitled they are to lash out in pain and resentment and hate. The truth is, every one of us has been hurt; and, every one of us has hurt people we love. Every one of us has had something we said misunderstood or misinterpreted to cause unintended harm.
Where does that leave us? If we do what we are told- and if we make sure everyone knows just how badly we have been wronged- it will lead to more hurt and more pain and more animosity. No one will ever win. Perhaps this is why Paul wrote, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:12-14)
This is a foreign concept to a lot of people, and it's becoming more so as God is forcefully removed from schools, and eradicated from more and more parts of society.
It's an unfortunate thing, but it has been the pattern of civilizations throughout time. Since the first man and woman rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, people and groups and dynasties have risen up under God, rejected Him, and in the midst of their demise they cry out to God and He rescues them. Those who don't cry out to God for forgiveness are destroyed.
There is nothing "progressive" about our culture now. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for similar "progressive" ideas just a few hundred years after the world was formed. People have not "evolved," they're just lost again.
The point I am trying to make, is that we have been blaming each other for things that are rooted- not in "bad blood," but in evil that has been allowed to run rampant for too long. In the Bible, Paul writes, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." (Ephesians 6:10-13)
Until we can stop treating each other with animosity, which won't be possible until our focus is on something other than ourselves, the chaos and the hatred and the pain will continue to fester and spread.
I am praying for the heart of each and every person who reads this post- that you will know the truth, and your heart will be stirred. That you will begin to ask questions and search out the REAL answers. That your heart will be changed.
If you already know Jesus, then I pray that you will be encouraged. Because, what is happening now is nothing new. It has happened before, and God is still Sovereign. He will not be "cancelled," (historically, His Truth spreads like wildfire in the midst of oppression), and He has already won. He will bring true unity and peace to our world again. In His time.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, and reveal Himself to you in a very real way. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
