Overwhelmed by World Events?

It’s easy to be preoccupied with what we hear on the evening news these days:

• North Korea declares its intent to fire missiles at Japan and U.S. installations
• Egypt moves closer to a political crisis as confidence in the Muslim Brotherhood wanes
• Syria consumed (and destroyed) by a not-so-civil uprising that threatens to destroy the country
• Iran continues to pursue nuclear capability – threatens Israel, United States

Add to these troubling developments the challenges the average U.S. citizen faces personally, professionally, and financially and it can be downright demoralizing.  As the Nationwide Insurance T.V. commercial says so well, “Life comes at you fast.”

It’s enough to make you want to put your head in the proverbial sand to avoid the next round of news and developments.  Maybe that’s part of the reason “escape” oriented media like People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight enjoy such popularity in this country – it’s a lot less stressful to read about Kim Kardashian’s travails than to deal with the pervasive real-world struggles today.

For the person who has little or no faith in God, it must be nearly impossible to keep all of this in perspective because these events are their life perspective.  In essence, these personal and global challenges represent the entire “context” of their life that really matters.

For the Christian, the equation is different.  We know that life is challenging in many ways but our life here on Earth is not the end of the story – it’s actually the start of the story.  When we embrace a couple of fundamental truths of our faith, the “context” is very different:

• We know that God is in control and has a bigger plan for our life – both during our life here on Earth and eternally.
• And, we’ve learned to believe the promise of Romans 8:28 in the Bible where God gives us assurance that regardless of our circumstances He can work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

The difference between being overwhelmed by today’s challenging headlines and being peace-filled amongst the same news is your world-view.   On one hand, if you view yourself as a random human being, born by pure chance – life does come at you fast.

On the other hand, if you embrace the notion that we are really a spiritual being, created by a God who knows your name and cares about you deeply, who is fortunate enough to spend a fraction of eternity as a human – but whose home (forever) is with God – this broader context makes today’s challenges seem small in comparison.

Figuratively, we keep one foot in heaven while alive here on earth because while our circumstances are unpredictable, our future is secure.  When God is your center of gravity, you can wake up every morning and marvel about what’s going on, pray that God’s will be done, and rest assured that the bigger story, God’s sovereign story and plan, will play out to His glory and to our ultimate benefit. It’s downright liberating.

What about you?  Are you consumed by today’s personal and world circumstances?  Or, are you peace-filled knowing that God is neither surprised nor challenged to bring good from this world’s evil.

I look forward to your comments and thoughts!