The recent Baghdad bombing captivated and distressed the world’s population, as news services showed pictures of the devastation, and reported on the dead. A recent news article from the Sydney Morning Herald, dated December 24, 2012, in Australia, noted:
The attacks were the worst since a string of bombings in August that killed 74 people. But they were merely the latest in a country where stability and plurality remain a bitter illusion. The 16 bombs, 63 deaths and 185 wounded will undoubtedly be viewed through the prism of the grave political crisis that, within a week of the US withdrawal, has put an end to any hope of the country moving forward under a nationalist banner.
Additionally, the long time despot and leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, died on December 17th. There is much conjecture and concern as to what effect his passing will have on the stability of that nation. This is especially troubling since North Korea has nuclear capabilities. The fact that China, which has emerged as one of the preeminent economic and world powers is an ally of North Korea gives even greater cause for concern.
Other concerns:
- The world economy is depressed and unstable. (This fact is reflected in the economic troubles of our own nation).
- The United States is in decline. It is interesting to listen to the politicians during this election cycle. It is acknowledged by both parties that the United States is no longer “great”, and that they are the candidate/party to make it great again!
- The Middle East remains a center of turmoil, as Jew and Arab remain entrenched in a conflict over land that is 14 centuries old.
- Global warming (whether you believe it exists or not); the Wall Street occupation; border conflicts; declining moral standards; a decline in public education; abortion; the proliferation of the homosexual agenda; the list goes on and on.
The world at present is not a pretty place — which basically means that things have not greatly changed from the times of Jesus and His apostles. Concerning the affairs of man, Paul told the Athenians:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’” (Acts 17:26-28).
So long as men turn away from God and serve their own appetites and pleasures, the world will be rife with instability and human suffering. While the degree of degradation and evil ebbs and flows, it is ever with us. As such, it is the lot of Christians as we live among the worldly to suffer the consequences of God’s judgments upon the nations. In the face of such instability, we must live penitent lives, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). It may not give us stability in this flawed world, but it will supply for us the hope of an eternal abode within the bosom of our God in the world to come.
