G.K. Chesterton once stated, “When learned men begin to use their reason, then I generally discover that they haven’t got any.”
I believe that sentiment defines the way many people – including me, on occasion – look at our world today.
As we prepare to enter the year 2008, our world is encountering widespread turmoil and confusion.
The shocking assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto rekindles the fears we have of militant terrorists who will recklessly sacrifice their own lives to carry on their reign of terror.
And while the experts and pundits and politicians continue to weigh in on this tragic event, one often gets the sense that they have no real solutions for dealing with modern terrorists and that the world is spiraling out of control.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was correct when he stated yesterday that “al-Qaida wants to bring Western civilization to its knees.”
Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, reminded, “Like the Hitler Youth of Nazi Germany, many Muslim children today are routinely indoctrinated to hate Christians and Jews. Like the SS soldiers who swore to die for their fuehrer, Palestinian children are told that killing the infidel and dying while doing so is the ultimate form of service to Allah.”
Indeed, America continues to be seen as “the Great Satan” by Islamic fundamentalists who would like nothing more than to author another 9/11.
There is little doubt that our national security is tenuous and that we are in the crosshairs of terrorists who despise America.
And so, as 2008 dawns, there is little hope of a more peaceful tomorrow.
As Christians, when troubling times plague us or when the events of the world weigh heavily on our hearts, we can be confident that our “life is hid with Christ in God,” as Colossians 3:3 reminds us.
This means that there is no hardship, no challenge, no tragedy in life that we will face that can separate us from Christ, who knows our every need.
There is no greater comfort than knowing that the Creator of the universe resides in our hearts, assuring us and guiding us through all of life’s trials.
In Philippians 3: 13-14, the Apostle Paul affirms that believers must not allow tragedy to disrupt our focus on living for Christ. He states, “… forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
As the world continues to be rocked by disaster and the threat of terror and war, I pray that this nation’s true Christians will follow the example of Paul, confidently proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only solution for man’s dissension and conflict.
I pray that the peace that passes all understanding through Jesus Christ will become real in the lives of all of my readers and friends across this nation.
We must not grow weary in well-doing. We must press on, fully believing that Jesus will one day soon return to this earth to claim His own and deliver us from our troubles.
As John 9:4 states, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
