A World in Chaos; What Can I Do?

Sometimes our apparent mistakes are actually God leading in a different direction.

I arrived at church this morning and went to the office to make copies for my class and a church project. I started the copies going for the church project and went to pull my Sunday school lesson out of my bag. It wasn’t there. I had my Bible, the church project, notebooks to entertain my youngest daughters during the service, a book I needed to give a friend, but no lesson for my class.

The women in my class are a pretty laid-back group so I didn’t stress too much. I headed to class; I knew it would work out OK.

I don’t write about world events on here much but I follow them closely in the news; especially events in Israel and the Middle East. This past week, I’ve watched world events play out with more than idle curiosity. You see, I also avidly study the prophetic portions of Scripture. So this past week I’ve watched the news with one track of my brain while prophetic passages of Scripture were running on a second mental track. In Israel and the Middle East, one necessarily involves the other.

Due to these two personal interests, the following three questions weren’t surprising. I don’t think I could have put together a better lesson if I had spent hours prepping. I can’t go into all of the details here but I will repeat a few key points.

One of the ladies in class, when she heard I didn’t have a lesson with me, asked, “I’m curious what you think about all the events at the American embassies this week in light of Bible prophecy. Do you think it’s significant?” The next question was, “What do you think about President Obama’s unwillingness to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu?”

The answers to these two questions are critically important. In short, the vacuum of American leadership, the icy relations between the US and Israel, and the growing tension between Israel and Iran have created a strong possibility that big things are about to happen as prophecy and current events collide. But they are not within the scope of my purpose for this article. I want to focus on the answer to the next question.

My friend continued, “As I’ve watched things play out this week, I keep wondering if any of the things I’m doing each day will matter for eternity. What can I do to make an impact now?” I agree with her – this is a question that has echoed in my mind all week long. God gave me a two part answer that I shared with my class; I want to pass it on to you now.

Educate Yourself

If war breaks out between Iran and Israel, do you know the prophetic implications of that? If a co-worker has questions about the significance of any of these things, do you know the answer? Incredible opportunities to share the hope and good news found in Christ could be on our near horizon; they will fly right on by if we aren’t ready.

To help you get ready, the Bible is of course the best source of information. To help you know what the Bible teaches in these areas, I recommend the following websites. These are all from the ministry of Joel Rosenberg, a best-selling author, Messianic Jew, and political analyst. His background gives him a unique perspective and his teaching is solid and Biblically-based.

• Subscribe to Joel Rosenberg's FlashTraffic blog.
• Like Joel's Epicenter Team Facebook page.
• Follow him on Twitter @joelcrosenberg

Pray

Never – and I mean never, ever – underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer may seem unnecessary; after all, God prophesied how events will play out thousands of years ago. Can we make a difference? That’s a touchy issue but here are a few things for which we can definitely pray.

• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
• Pray for people living in these areas of unrest that they may come to know the love and peace of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Pray for missionaries already on the ground in these areas. Pray that they will be empowered and protected as they do their work.
• Pray for each of us as believers. Pray that we will have words to say when the moments come that I wrote about a moment ago. Pray that we can use these events to tell others about Christ and give them hope in a turbulent world. Pray that we will live our lives focused on the work of the kingdom, living to the glory of Christ.