Are things betting better or worse?
If you listen to the evening news, read much on the internet, or have many friends on Facebook you probably have heard a lot of bad news lately. It’s probably always been that way, but with a bad economy, ISIS, and Ebola making headlines right now, anyone would appropriately get nervous. Doomsayers certainly have plenty of material to fuel their angst.
And then you hear some people saying, “Everything’s going to be alright.” You hear that from some politicians, some preachers, and others. “We’ve overcome worse things than this before. God’s on our side! It will all work out.”
So who’s right? Is our country, our economy, our institutions, our church, our world on the brink of collapse? Or are bad people just using bad news to try and keep everybody in line? Are our brightest days behind us? Or are they still ahead?
For example, do we know what to do about the Ebola epidemic, and are we able to do it? Or are we on the brink of a worldwide health catastrophe – from Ebola and a vast array of other threats?
Is the US economy and the world economy resilient enough to withstand the enormous national debt, unemployment, terrorism, and spiraling healthcare costs? Or are we in for the longest, broadest, and deepest recession in modern times?
Is the Christian church about to enter her most glorious time ever, and experience a surge of growth, influence, and Christlikeness? Or are the church’s enemies including internal strife and division, moral failure of leadership, shallow religion, and the rise of secularism about to bring her down?
The contrast can be seen in many areas. It’s both pessimism and optimism magnified to the max.
There have been doomsday preachers for centuries. Most of them have been wrong. But some have been anything but wrong: Noah and Jeremiah in the Bible, those who predicted the 2008 stock market crash, those who warned of terrorism regaining strength in the Middle East, and more.
There have also been optimists, sometimes claiming to speak in God’s name. God warned the people through Jeremiah not to listen to the false prophets claiming everything would work out alright for Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 27:9,10) Paul said there would be many such scoffers in the last days, who “when they say “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
But God also promises truly wonderful things: “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
So which is it? Better or worse?
There are 2 parts to the answer:
- Things are going to get a lot worse first. There’s so much in God’s Word predicting that troubles will increase in every way. Why should we be surprised? We’re in the middle of a war! Whether it’s Ebola, ISIS, financial collapse, or something else, we know it’s coming.
- THEN things are going to get better. A whole lot better! Jesus is going to win! We know that. We can know some of that victory now, even in the midst of troubles. But final victory will only come when God’s Kingdom puts an end to evil forever.
And what do we do in the meantime? How do we live in this in-between time?
- Don’t be afraid.
- Keep doing the last thing you know God gave you to do. If that’s raising your children, do it intentionally. If that’s pastoring a church, do it faithfully. If that’s building hospitals, or transporting food, or writing books, do it with excellence. If that’s saying something kind to someone who’s lonely, do it every chance you get.
Doing the next right thing will have good consequences here and now. But know that even if you don’t see anything getting better in this life, you will have your reward in eternity.
It’s almost surely going to get really bad. And then it’s going to get wonderful. Tweet that.
We know the end of the story!
Your Turn: Do you think things are getting worse, or getting better? Why? Leave a comment below.
Tweetables: why not share this post?
- Does God say things are getting better? Or getting worse? Tweet that.
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