Tag Archives: wars and rumors of war

beautiful feet

news I live in a small town in the midwest. Not much of what is happening in the world seems to affect life here, except when I fill my gas tank, or try to find a job. But thanks to the brilliant minds of technology, I am able to open my laptop and with one or two clicks, global life is right in front of me. And with those few clicks, all of the pain that lives “over there” somewhere invades my quiet home and life. Suddenly the issues I have been focused on appear rather petty. Part of me sits up a little straighter as I join the rest of the grownups, now armed with a clue of what’s going on in the world. The other part of me wants to head right back to the kiddie table and just be petty. But it’s hard to un-know something.

So now I know. There are wars and rumors of wars; natural disasters crippling entire nations; kingdoms being divided against themselves. The discussions at the grownup table center around tragedy in Japan, radiation risks, crashing stock markets, and a place called Libya and the madman of power there. Words like Tunisia, Egypt, Darfur, genocide, reactors and meltdowns all fly past me as my brain searches frantically for Tunisia on the map in my head. Then someone mentions the name Rob Bell and the whole table erupts. And I glance longingly at the kiddie table.

They say knowledge is power. As of yesterday, I didn’t feel powerful. I felt overwhelmed and off balance. I wasn’t fearful, I just had a sudden sense that things are moving a lot faster than I thought they were. People are dying, but I have to figure out what to make for dinner. I didn’t know what to do about either one.

And then this morning, the Word of God began to speak.

From one page, one chapter, one verse to another I was reminded that He alone is God, creator of heaven and earth, sovereign ruler over all time and events, and the final authority over life and death. He laid the foundations of the earth we spin on, hung the stars and tells the ocean where to stop. Only by His consent does man move and breathe and have his being. Dominion is firmly His, and He rules over all nations.

He is my God. And this is His heart ~

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Many believe that the events we are watching in the world are described in Matthew 24. If this is true, then the world has much more to fear than earthquakes and radiation. But for those who know Him, those who have called upon the Name of Jesus, there is nothing to fear…there is just much to say. Because what we know far exceeds the importance of leaking radiation, falling stock markets, and kings who have been raised up and taken down. What we know outweighs the devastation the world is watching and living in.

Enter the reason for the strange title of this post.

“…for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'” Romans 10:10-15

I know little about nuclear reactors or why it’s bad if they have a meltdown. I would be hard pressed to find Tunisia on a map, or tell you the name of Egypt’s ruler and why they don’t like him. I spend a lot of time confused when I sit at the grownup table.

standfirmBut here, in my quiet town in the midwest, I know what much of the world does not. So Lord, in the midst of pain and death, the shaking of the earth and the fear that has come with it, in all of the chaos and confusion…make my feet beautiful.

the end

“The end is near!” We usually see that statement written on a sandwich board being worn by a crazy looking guy who looks like he hasn’t showered in a month. You know…in the movies. As Hollywood’s obligatory smirk at the Christian idea that there really is going to be an “end”.  I doubt there’s going to be enough time for an “I told you so” when the end that was near becomes the end that is here, but something in me thinks it would feel really good.

The 24th chapter of Matthew has Jesus Himself wearing the sandwich board. As I read it I imagine the looks on the faces of His disciples as He told them the story of “the end”, a story they, and all those that come after them would take part in.  You and I are those that come after them. We are living in the story of “the end”, and it is nearer now than it was then. So I’m listening.

~ “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming ‘I am the Christ’, and will deceive many.” (24:4-5)

Deception is rampant, and will only increase. I don’t want to be one of ‘many’. I want to be numbered with those who have followed Him closely enough to know His truth and His presence. I want to be with those who know that when He returns, He will not need to “claim” to be the Christ. It will be unmistakable. 

~ “You will hear of wars and rumors of war, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” (24:6)

Are we not just easily alarmed? That’s more of a statement than a question, actually, so don’t try to answer it. Every new twist in the story alarms us. Every election, every law that’s passed, every talk of war, every sign that things are getting darker, causes us, the Church, to cry out with alarm. We become more and more indignant that things are getting so much worse, so out of control, so unchristianly.  We start passing around petitions and staging protests, as though man has any power to stop the page from turning. We live as though we are “in the beginning”. But we aren’t. We are living in “the end”. It is no place for alarm.

~ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me.” (24:9)

Yes, we will be persecuted and hated. Many will die for their faith. There will be great deception and wickedness will increase. The love of many will grow cold. The end holds great, unequaled distress. The sun will darken and there will be no light from the moon. Stars will fall from the sky.  It is the story of “the end”. But then…

~ “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (24:30-31)

And the end will be over. And we, His Church, will enter into the beginning of something beautiful, something beyond our comprehension. A beginning with no end.

 May every new twist and turn, every event, every evidence of the increase of darkness, cause us to look heavenward, unalarmed and undeceived. And may we determine to draw our hearts ever closer to Him until at last we see Him face to face.

The end is near. Don’t be alarmed. It’s a good thing.