Honestly, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with all the doom and gloom in the world. In fact, I’ve been having panic attacks, worrying, getting stuck in looping thoughts that do nothing beneficial. They only make me miserable as the enemy attacks me again and again.
Every day, it seems like something else in our world has imploded upon itself, changing life as we know it—or so say the media, Facebook, etc. The world is terrible. It’s the worst it’s ever been. Humanity is wicked as can be, no hope for redemption, and we keep getting worse.
Well.
Maybe not.
I admit: my theme song in life would probably be “Cockeyed Optimist” from South Pacific, but I think there is some pretty good evidence supporting my opinion that: yes, the world may be bad...but it’s not over yet.
Yes, we have illness in our world. We’re in the midst of a pandemic. It can be scary. Nobody knows quite what to do or what to say. But let’s not forget:
The Black Plague, which killed way more people than coronavirus.
The Spanish Flu of 100 years ago. Which, fun fact, didn’t start in Spain, but they were just the first country to report it because everybody else was in a little-bitty war called World War I and didn’t want to ruin morale. (Sorry, I’m a history nut—which you’ll probably know by the time you finish this devotion.) Its mortality rate was pretty similar to today’s coronavirus, although it struck at the younger generation who were typically considered healthier.
Here’s a good one for you: smallpox, which literally decimated the indigenous native cultures in both North and South America because they had no immunity to it. Talk about your unintentional biological warfare.
Yes, we have war in our world. But wars have always been part of the world.
Look back at all the wars that Israel had to fight in the Old Testament. They were conquered by Babylon, by Rome…
Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world at that time to add to Greece’s territory.
The Crusades, which were religious wars between Christians and Muslims.
World War I and World War II.
The Korean War.
I could go on, but history speaks for itself. People have been waging wars for as long as...well, there have been people. (I mean, Cain killing Abel kind of destroyed ¼ of the current world population at that time.)
Adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, rape, or even pedophilia?
None of these are remotely new. Dig a little bit into Pompeii’s history before it was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius and you may be shocked. Or look back into Greece’s history, Rome’s history, Sodom and Gomorrah, the nations surrounding the Israelites, Noah’s time…
Still not convinced? The Wild West had hardly any families, but plenty of brothels. In England in the 1700s-1800s (or, really, any time), marriages were hardly ever for love, and prostitution, rape and—yes—even abortion were around. (Did you know that one theory about the identity of Jack the Ripper is that it was actually an infertile woman whose husband was a shady doctor, and she was so mad that these prostitutes would get an abortion when all she wanted was a baby that she decided to kill them? It’s a real theory; look it up!)
Idol worship? Today, it may be money, status, electronics, or—yes, even straight-up idol worship, but it’s nothing new.
Asherah and Ba’al were just two of the other gods mentioned in the Old Testament.
Remember Paul, in Athens, where he found the temple dedicated to all the gods, even an “unknown god”?
Remember all the Greek gods (and their Roman counterparts)? Yeah, that’s idol worship!
What about the persecution and mockery of Christians?
We’re not being thrown into the Colosseum to be eaten alive by lions.
We are still free to worship, even though in many countries today, people aren’t free to do so.
We’re not being burned alive like Joan of Arc.
We’re not being killed by the millions in concentration camps.
This is not to downgrade our problems. Church attendance is dwindling. It does seem like Christians can be the brunt of a lot of jokes. The morality and teaching of the Bible are ridiculed and ignored.
Things are bad in a wicked, wicked world.
But Solomon, once-prince and then-king of Israel, who was the wisest man to ever live, has a sage observation: “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No, what we’re facing may be novel to us, but it is certainly not new in God’s eyes.
So, in the face of the fact that the world is not perfect and will never be perfect, what do we do?
I think the Bible is also pretty clear on that:
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
I could go on and on, but it’s clear that the only fix to the world’s problems: yesterday’s problems, today’s problems, and tomorrow’s problem, is the same thing that has always been the cure. Love God. Love Jesus. Love others. In fact, Jesus summed up his whole mission with this: “He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).
If we want to make the world a better place...well...allow me to quote another prince: specifically, the Prince of Pop, Michael Jackson. “I’m starting with the man in the mirror.”
Before we cast stones, let’s all look at the way we can spread love. Not anger and vitriol. Not abuse and deceit.
Love is the only way to be like Jesus.
Love is the only way to change the world.
P.S.—If you do nothing else, please watch MJ’s video. There’s nothing new under the sun. Just the need to love each other a lot more.
P.P.S.— Also, if you’d like to pray or discuss anything in this devotion, let me know. I’m going through a rough time, so I know what it’s like. Let’s help each other. With anything. For real.
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