Safe in His hands...

I was reading the news this afternoon (Fox and Drudge Report are my first stops), as I normally do, when it stuck me just how scary our world is. How much fear, hate, sadness, violence and uncertainty we all have to live with. Here are the headlines that made me think of that:

Pilot Had Chance to Land Before Crashing F-18 Into California Neighborhood
Jurors in Vegas Toddler Sex Case Begin Deliberating
Body Found of Girl, 5, Trapped Inside Car That Sank in Frigid Colorado River
Gunmen Ambush Cricket Team in Pakistan, 7 Killed
U.S. Says Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels Approaching 'Crisis Proportions'
Social Workers Failed to Warn Foster Parents About Teen Who Abused Their Kids
Bali Kicks Off Yoga Festival Despite Muslim Fatwa
White House Knocks Jim Cramer For Calling Obama Budget "Greatest Wealth Destruction By a President"

We need to face the fact we live in a scary and sin filled world. A chapel speaker recently referred to the Original Sin as making us all "morally insane". It doesn't take a theologian to realize he is right, just a look at the news headlines. The world is morally insane. So the question comes up: What is a Christian to do? I can't personally stop the drug cartels in Mexico, make different religions get along with each other, solve the world hunger problem, or solve our economic problems. So what is a Christian to do? Do I have to accept my own inadequacy to solve the world's problems, do I have to learn to live with the sadness of knowing there are children perhaps in my home town that are being abused and forgotten? What is a Christian to do in a world that is filled with sadness and pain?

First, I would say that we need to remember that what we are going through is not new. Just a glance through the Old and New Testaments will find people that are filled with hurt and pain, some to the point of suicide. Yes, our world is a scary place, but it has been that way since the Original Sin. We many face different trials, but there have always been trials.

Second, as hard as it maybe at times we have to praise God. Read through any of the Psalms of David. David was a man that was deeply hurt, but through all of his suffering he always praised God, and thanked Him for what he did have.

Third,it may seem at times that God has abandoned His world. That He has thrown up His hands and given us and the world over to Satan. But if He really had done that then there would truly be nothing good left in the world. All beauty and goodness come from God, so if you can find even one small thing that is good in this world then God has not abandoned us.

Fourth, ask God to make His pain your pain. I truly believe that God is heart broken by the horrible things that go on in the world. He has promised to love us, and when someone you love is hurt it can be more painful than if you yourself were hurt. In a world of so much hurt, it can be easy to turn your back on that pain, and ignore it, but if God doesn't stop feeling the pain why should His followers?

Fifth, understand that God fills us to be emptied again. I don't mean that God will ever take His love away from us. But that Christians are not an exception to the pain of the world. Just like everyone else in the world we get sick, we feel immense pain, and we die. Whatever happiness you feel right now will sooner or later be changed to grief and heartbreak.

Finally, know that life here is temporary. Heaven is promised to be a place without pain and sickness, but instead eternity with God. Whatever your life on earth has brought you heaven will be so much better. Life without pain and suffering, as God intended life to be. Clearly, Christians are not helpless, there is much work to be done, and an eternal life to look forward to.

Cheers!

Your Literary Junkophile.

This has become one of my favorite songs and applies nicely to this blog post.