Everywhere we turn there’s bad news, even apocalyptic warnings that Western civilisation is coming to an end. Many individuals are expressing fear and anger about world events and politics. Yet the Bible guarantees us peace – in our hearts, if not on this planet around us. Here are seven Bible verses that may also help us to think more Biblically about our troubles:
Perspective: “What has been might be again, what has been done might be done again; there’s nothing recent under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NIV).
We perceive today’s troubles from the angle of a comparatively peaceful era within the Western world. The Eighties and Nineties saw the autumn of communism and fewer military conflicts. While September 11 raised fears of Islamic terrorism, times were still relatively easy for most individuals within the West.
With a more historical perspective our current woes might be seen as less alarming. Imagine what it was like for a peasant within the 1340s to see most of your fellows worn out by plague; or for the Christians of the primary three centuries as they were murdered by the Roman regime; or to see your church leader executed within the brutal Reformation battles in Europe. Human beings have been battered in every way possible; we will learn from the wisdom of the church fathers the right way to handle such trials.
Suffering: “Whoever desires to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross every day and follow me” Luke 9:23, NIV.
The earliest Christians, and most of our brothers and sisters throughout history, accepted suffering as a part of life, but especially as a part of the Christian life, as Jesus clearly predicts in his teaching. Without effective anaesthetics, antibiotics, and all the trendy advances in agriculture and residential management, life was tough for everybody. Those of us who live without suffering are the minority on this planet and throughout history. Jesus can show us a way through these trials, and the right way to deal with the fear of worse trials to come back.
Truth and style: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who got here from the Father, stuffed with grace and truth” John 1:17, NIV.
The necessity of balancing each truth and love is commonly discussed, but in a fracturing society it is particularly vital. There are problems and sins throughout us, and the church needs to carry on to truth and be willing to call this out. The Church’s lack of motion on childhood gender transitioning suggests that a lot of us are afraid of speaking the reality – because the Cass report showed, this particular trend is a concerning social fashion moderately than ‘progress’, and could have harmed many individuals. Yet too often after we do criticise social trends, it’s perceived as unloving. In a world stuffed with lies and rebel with a desert of real love, if we will manage to carry on to each truth and mercy, our light will shine. As this Bible passage shows, it is thru Christ that this becomes possible.
Getting our own house so as: “How are you able to say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when on a regular basis there’s a plank in your individual eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your individual eye, and you then will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:4-5, NIV).
It’s easy to indicate people’s flaws, or those of society. There are at all times loads of them! But this sort of criticism tends to come back from a judgemental and harsh place inside. Such hardness is an indication that now we have a plank in our eye that should be removed before we concern ourselves with the wrongs of others. If there’s bitterness, unkindness, resentment or jealousy inside us, then we’re in no place to assist others with their very own issues. Jesus’s clear teaching is that we must work on ourselves with a view to be useful to others. This just isn’t a call to disregard the issues of the skin world, but to work hard at sanctification and cultivating the inside life to be certain that the love of Christ is firmly within the driving seat.
Trust and give up: “I envied the proud once I saw them prosper despite their wickedness… Then I noticed that my heart was bitter, and I used to be all torn up inside. I used to be so silly and ignorant— I will need to have gave the impression of a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand” (Psalm 73:3, 21-23, NLT).
It could appear that life is unfair and that those in power are prospering while good people fail. But the entire of Psalm 73Â is a realisation that specializing in these perceived injustices does us no good in any respect. We can trust in God’s justice and his plan for this world, nonetheless out of kilter all of it seems. Raging on the perceived wrongs of the federal government or globalist organisations does nothing but make us bitter and torn up inside … a lot better to deal with God and construct our trust in His plans.
Love for the sinner: “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him” Acts 7:59-60 – Acts 8:1, NIV.
The New Testament is a witness to essentially the most incredible conversion of St Paul. He was once in favour of persecuting Christ’s church. Then he got here to like it and died for it himself. He once approved of violent execution of Christians. Then he got here to consider in peaceful means and persuasion for the gospel through preaching. If we observe wrongdoers on this planet, we will select to consider them as future St Paul’s, moderately than our enemies. God has brought many individuals into the best way of Christ previously, and he’ll accomplish that again in the longer term.
Kingdoms rise and fall: “From one man he made all of the nations, that they need to inhabit the entire earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” Acts 17:26, NIV.
In multiple places within the Bible, we’re assured that Kingdoms of the world will rise and fall, and that God’s hand is on this. Imagine living within the early church – it could have seemed not possible that the mighty Roman empire could ever fall, yet it’s now ancient history. Likewise, the present world order is not going to stay the identical. This can feel unsettling and worrying, and indeed a few of the alternatives to Western domination appear frightening if human rights will not be respected or freedoms allowed, especially the liberty to practise our faith. Yet checked out from God’s perspective, history has its ups and downs. Rather than feeling afraid, we will work on increasing trust in God’s plans, in addition to working towards a fairer and more God-honouring world at any time when and wherever we will.
Heather Tomlinson is a contract journalist. Find her at www.heathertomlinson.substack.com or on twitter @heathertomli
