Turning Things Around in the World

2 Timothy 2.25-26 encourages, perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive to do his will.

The world is going crazy because people are increasingly doing crazier things. Granted, 24-hour negative news brings to our attention more crime, more violence and more human atrocity than we ever had before but still, does it seem like the world is running amok at a greater rate than ever?

The world has been in tough places before. It would have been hard times to be on the wrong side of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. It would have been hard times during the black plague. It was hard times during both world wars. It is hard times for those living wherever ISIS rules or seeks to rule.

People endured those times past. We will probably endure these times as well. A quicker, better and more lasting solution would be to do things God’s way instead of constantly doing things our way.

With our might we can make things right, as long as we remain mighty. That’s the way we have been doing things anyway.  If we will allow He Who truly is Mighty, having the power to take life and send people to hell for eternity, to rule over us, we will find our lives and the lives of those around us, goes better. It goes better because God is good and has not only our best interest but the best interest of everyone at heart.

To get to God’s way requires two steps. Step one is to admit I have a problem and seek to turn away from it. The Bible identifies our problem as an inherent desire to have our own way needing to be first and foremost in everything. Simply put, we, the Bible declares, are sinners in need of a Savior.

As long as I refuse to see myself as the inherent problem I will continue to have problems in this world. This doesn’t mean all of my problems are my own doing. You have problems too and sometimes spill them over onto me but coupled with my problems we now have amplified our situation and not made it better.

The second step, is to turn to God and His manual for life instruction. The Bible is the record of God in history, leading, guiding, teaching and working with humanity in order to help us live with Him and each other better. Constantly ignoring this gift and even marginalizing it as irrelevant keeps us from experiencing life as God intended: full, abundant, fruitful and peaceful.

It shouldn’t be hard to see we have a problem. The solution is simple, admit it and turn to God for direction.

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