Unsettled Times
Peter Ditzel
Have you found yourself a little anxious lately? You’re not alone. With terrorism, serial killings, and a depressed economy at home and the threat of war abroad, nerves are beginning to fray.
We live in what is probably
the most unstable time in global politics since World War II. Violence
threatens to erupt on many fronts, such as Iran, North Korea, and China;
and these fronts are multiplying.
While international unity is promoted in speeches, the world is
fragmenting. In 1956, there were 72 independent nations in the world.
Today, (2009) there are 195. And ethnic groups in many of those nations
want independence for their people and region, which would fragment the
world even further. Often, these groups are willing to use violence to
gain their independence. Hotspots are in Columbia, the Balkans, Africa,
and the Middle East.
Religion, too, divides people. Muslims are clashing with Hindus in
India, with pro-Western Islamic (but sometimes repressive) regimes
throughout the Middle East and Asia, with Jews in Israel, and with
Christians in Africa. Of course, some of these conflicts involve both
politics and religion. This is particularly dangerous, for when you
combine religious zeal with people frustrated politically, you get a
formula for terrorism. And when the West, particularly the United
States, is perceived as the principle supporter of governments (ranging
from Israel to Saudi Arabia) that are unpopular with the zealots, we
find terrorism in our backyards.
On the home front, western nations are faced with international and
domestic terror, escalating crime, the possibility of long and costly
overseas wars, a faltering economy, and the collapse of giant
corporations amid scandal. People can hardly be blamed, then, if they
sometimes feel uncertain and even scared. Anyone seeing the headlines on
a typical day of sniper shootings, bomb blasts, war posturing, terrorist
threats, and bank failures might wonder if the universe is indeed ruled
only by chaos and chance. But we Christians know better.
As Christians, we know that the universe was created by and is ruled by
God. We also know that God is never uncertain, never faltering, never
unstable. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning"
(James 1:17). Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever" (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus Christ is called a Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4;
Psalm 62:6). And He has given us a source of absolute truth by which we
can live in these times. It is the Bible, the Word of God.
This book is like no other. It tells us of God, the Creation, man, and
how sin—and along with it death—entered the world. It also tells of
God’s Son, His birth as a man, His sinless life, and His atoning death
for the sins of those who trust in Him alone as their Savior. The Cross
of Jesus is never shaken. Those who look to it will never fail. We have
a firm foundation. The Bible explains that this world only seems to be
chaotic when we look upon it with faithless eyes, and that God is
working out all things in history for "good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). And it
speaks of the end of this unstable world when Jesus Christ will return
to divide the sheep from the goats, i.e. judge between the living (those
who have faith in Him alone as Savior) and the dead. "He that overcometh
shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is
the second death" (Revelation 21:7-8). Then, speaking of the believers,
"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of hope that we Christians are
to present to this confused and unsettled world. By "looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) and growing in His
grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) by continually looking into God’s
Word, we can remain unshaken in these unsettled times.
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Copyright © 2002-2009 Peter Ditzel