A World on the Brink

It’s worse than anyone is saying, and we all know it.

Humanly speaking, this world is at the most dangerous moment since the Black Plague or maybe even the Great Flood.

Exaggerating? No.

I am not an alarmist, it is just where we are. Worldwide nuclear powers are aligning with and against one another in an allied/axis arrangement not seen since World War 2. Only fools do not believe that Putin is serious about his nuclear threats. We are on the brink of a nuclear war. World leaders are speaking out, but with a sense of incredulous shock.

Germany has finally gotten serious and decided that it needs now to spend some money on self-defense after leaning on the US for its security for years. Other nations seem to be responding but it does seem a bit late in the game. Any nuclear interaction between nations, even if geographically isolated will have a significant impact on the entire planet.

It is an apocalyptic moment—I did not say the Apocalypse, but an apocalyptic moment.  The Four Horsemen of Revelation will be a real judgmental sequence that will fall upon this planet someday, but it is also a sequence that has been repeated throughout history—a conqueror rises (white horse), war ensues (red horse), followed by famine as crops and livelihoods are destroyed (black horse), which culminates in much death (pale horse).

How should God’s people respond?

Trust in the Lord God Who created heaven and earth and will reign one day.

We do not put our trust in human governments or personal safety. Our bodies and lives can be hurt, but our souls are eternal and the sovereign God of eternity controls this time as well as the eternal. He will hold us fast. While understanding the gravity of this moment, we do not live in fear of it. Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world.

Do not get tunnel vision.

The possessions and troubles of this present time seem to pale in the gravity of the present situation. Was it just a week or so ago that we were still arguing about masks? John Kerry’s concern about the world taking its eyes off of the climate problem because of the threat of a nuclear war is just—well—out of touch with any kind of reality. Tunnel vision is when you get so obsessed with one issue or controversy that you do not see anything else, and things that are much more important.

We must look at the big picture, and the big picture brings the most important question to mind. How do we honor our Lord at this moment?

Look at the souls around you.

People are afraid. They are at their wit’s end. God brings people, nations, even a world to its knees so it will look to Him, but God’s people must be willing to speak up in that moment of greatest need. This is not the time to be silent, this is the time to reach out with the truth and share the love of Christ. This is a moment of opportunity.

Pray for your leaders.

I know very few Christian leaders who view the present US leadership favorably. Regardless of how we got here, and regardless of who our present leaders are, we need to pray for them. We are commanded to do so. We need to pray that God will open their eyes and change their hearts. We must pray that God will use them as instruments for good and not for evil. We must pray that God will give them divine wisdom and show us mercy.

This world deserves the impending judgment that seems to be on the horizon. It has denied the God who created it all.  Shown no gratitude for His blessings and received His love with disdain and cruelty.

But maybe, just maybe, if God’s people repent and turn to Him in obedience maybe He will draw the hearts of the lost.

It may be that peace negotiations succeed, cooler heads prevail, Russia stops its aggression, and we all go back to life as normal. But if it does happen, it does not mean that this moment was not as dangerous as we have imagined. It will simply be that by God’s mercy we dodged the bullet this time.

Our prayer meetings should be full this week—and we should be praying, not just chatting.