As I type this, I’m with some of my family in Oregon. We are grateful to be here and enjoying every moment God gives us.
Before we hopped the plane to fly out here, though, war erupted between Israel and Hamas. No matter how far we might travel from home, we can’t escape such news.
I could write a long post and share my views on this subject. I could try to guess whether or not this war is the beginning of prophecy coming to pass. (Ezekiel 38 could be a possibility or Psalm 83.) I could tell you what I think of the opposite points of view I’m hearing from those who condemn Hamas and those who condemn Israel.
But I rather doubt my opinion matters to anyone, and voicing it isn’t likely to change anything.
So rather than add to the confusion of those who stand with Israel vs. those who called for a day of rage against the Jewish people, or try to drown out (as if I could) the cacophony of noise coming from cyberspace, I wonder….can we just step back and examine ourselves for a moment?
None of us can see the bigger picture here. Only God is outside of time and can look at the human heart and know our motives. Only God knows the intimate details or the behind-the-scenes workings of foreign nations who are pitted against each other.
God does say a lot about the nations (and about Gaza, by the way) and about Israel. He has plans for the land and the nation of Israel in days to come. But He also sent His Son to bring the message of salvation from our sin (yes, we all sin) to ALL people groups. Even terrorists can be transformed by Jesus Messiah. He is no respecter of persons.
God has given us the message of reconciliation and grace to bring to all while there is yet time. And I think, if I’m going to look at what is happening in the world, the attitudes of people who seem to grow more hostile against God and each other at breakneck speed, then I had better realize that this one thing is true.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.”
2 Timothy 3:1
Read the whole chapter of 2 Timothy 3 for a detailed description of what that looks like.
Next February my book The Ark and the Dove will release. The book tells the story of Noah’s flood from his wife’s point of view. Jesus told His disciples that in the last days, life would be like it was in Noah’s day. Life back then was not good. God was sorry He had made humans because their hearts were only evil continually.
From God’s perspective, no matter which war we are facing, the cause of them all begins with evil in the human heart. In case we think we are above such a description, think again. God also tells us that the heart is desperately wicked, who can know it?
Are we living in the last days? I don’t know. It looks like it, but I’m only seeing things from one perspective. I do know that we are all in a war, but it’s not the one between Israel and Hamas. It’s a spiritual battle that we can only win on our knees.
If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then how should we live in such a time as this?
Surrendered, holy lives. Lives that reflect God’s love for all people in all nations. Lives that offer God’s grace to a hurting, confused, and dying world. Because Jesus came to give us that.
~Selah
#livegrace #yesandamen #lovetruth
