Endless headlines, doom-scrolling. Violence. Wars, division, evil. For all of time, there has been sin that’s hard to wrap our minds around. How is a woman of God supposed to respond? We want to be "not of this world", but it is where we live. How do we reconcile the Truth with what we are seeing played out on the world stage?
God made you for this time.
It’s easy to look at society and wish we’d been born much earlier. Our culture has slid into apathy; there is vitriol and division stirred up at every turn. Deception is cloaked as truth. But God put you here on this earth for this time, and He did not give us the spirit of fear.
The adversary of our souls would very much love to quench the revival that is here—scaring you into silence because, truly, hearts and homes across our country are being stirred. We have a God-given mission to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. To “open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…” (Acts 26:18). God created you for this time, for this mission.
When your heart is overwhelmed by the work to be done, by sin, and the burden for lost souls, turn to Him.
In this hour, we need authentic, genuine, fervent prayer. There is a place in prayer where God can encourage you regardless of your circumstances. When David came home to Ziklag only to find it ravaged by enemy fire, his wives taken captive along with the families of his men, he was “greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam. 30:3). At one of the lowest points of his military career, he suffered a loss that almost cost him his kingship: the people had turned and blamed all of the suffering on him. It says that “David encouraged himself in the Lord”. He didn’t justify himself before the people or argue with them; he went right to God. He inquired of the Lord what his next step should be, and God gave them a thorough victory over the Amalekites. David recovered all. If he had charged forward in his own human wisdom without consulting with the Lord first, who knows what missteps he might have taken.
When the situation looks bleak and overwhelming, find that place in prayer with the Lord. It transcends time and place. It can change your perspective, give you direction and peace. It is more than "now I lay me down to sleep". This is the prayer where you get real and vulnerable in the presence of the Lord and keep seeking until you feel his Spirit sweep into the room.
We must teach our children to access this place in prayer. Before they post, before they walk into their school, before they spread their opinions, before they panic, they need to know how to go to God.
“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Ps. 61:2).
Leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow. We know that Jesus is coming soon and that the world will only get darker as we draw closer to that day. It’s easy to wonder what that will look like for us, for our kids, for our communities, but don’t let it consume you. His grace is sufficient for today, and it will be sufficient still when you reach tomorrow. We have a job to do!
Take heart. God placed you in this time, even with all its chaos and strife, and He will see you through. You won’t have to walk it alone. When you are His, He is with you!
Press onwards for Heaven.
