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We live in troubled times. Life seems full of holes. Everywhere you look there are problems. Political problems, social problems, racial problems, problems in the home, in the business world, in the medical community. No matter where you look there are problems. Life is just full of holes. It’s hard to know what’s going on. There are bumps, curves, potholes and trash in the streets. There are stop signs run, and speed limits violated. And honesty? It has suffered damage in almost every area of life.
As if that weren’t enough, along comes the catastrophic invasive coronavirus pandemic. Never in the recent history of mankind has there been such a worldwide invasion. Every nation has been infected by the virus. It has disrupted world trade, travel, and politics. The health of every community in the world has been sorely affected. People don’t know which way to go, where to turn, what to say, what to wear. We hide out from the invasion only to turn and face it again. It has not only affected health and welfare, it has affected attitudes and dispositions of every person. We turn to face the difficulty and find it where we turn. It is confusing. We ask what can we do, where we can go, how to overcome. The frustrations continue, perplexities persist.
The world is in a mess. What do we do?
The answer to the question for the Christian is not as difficult as one might expect. The fog around us is lifted when we turn to the Lord for the answer. I would like to suggest three things to help us be wise small in the midst of all this conflagration.
First, we have to face in the right direction. In Proverbs 4:25, the wise man said “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” This world is not our home, but we must endure it while “looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” For the faithful Christian there is a home beyond this world where there are no conflicts, no disorder, no sickness and death. “Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God. When Christ, who is our life, will appear, then you shall also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:2-4). It is imperative that we look up to God for strength and stability during these turbulent times. “For the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken” (Prov. 3:26).
Second, we must look up to better things. Do right. One day things will be better. Hope is our mentor. It reaches into the future and attaches itself to something glorious, something free from doubt. Something permanently pleasant. The Hebrew writer calls it “the anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19).
Finally, to live a good life in the midst of the ever present daily trials, we must come to realize that death is inevitable, no matter how it comes, and judgment is coming. Ultimately, things will be straight, hurt will be gone, disease will be no more. There will be no crying, no sadness, because if you live a good life, heaven will be your home and all things will be good. “Those things which you have both learned, and received, and heard and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” Phil. 4:9. One day things will be different, so don’t forget where you are going.
“Let your conversation be without covetousness: be content with such things as you have: for He hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:6-7).
