In the blink of an eye the world can change. That is not an exaggeration as the world and the United States in particular has been turned upside down in the span of 5 months.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought sickness and death, the shuttering of businesses and the collapse of global economies. That resulted in high unemployment and restrictions on personal freedoms like attending church, going out to eat or visiting with friends and family. Add to that, the racial and political unrest, protests, riots, and utter mayhem brought on by the tragic and totally avoidable death of George Floyd by a bad police officer and the last few weeks have looked like a scene out of an apocalypse movie. Pandemonium and lawlessness reign.
The question is what can we as Christians do?
None of what is happening in the world today caught God unaware. He has known from eternity past that these things were going to happen at this time in human history. We are here because He placed us in the middle of this global pandemic, civil unrest, and anarchy. The Christian cannot believe that he/she just happened to be born in this time and place. No. Throughout the history of the world God has placed His people strategically and purposefully in the places where He could most effectively use them to bring glory and honor to His Name. The Bible is replete from start to finish with story after story of how God used His people to bring about a change. His desire is that all people would come to know Him.
As Christians, wherever we are, whatever situation we find ourself in, we are to walk the road that God has laid out for us since the beginning of time. It is not the road that most of the world is on. We can clearly see in the current events, that following that road leads to a constant desire for more, more power, more control, more violence, and more chaos. Solomon described following that road in Proverbs 4:14-19
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble. (ESV)
Jesus also described that road in Mathew 7: 13-14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
For those of us who follow Christ the road ahead will be hard but we must travel it. The road has been laid out and Its end has been declared. We are to guide as many as will come to travel the road with us to eternal glory.