Good News in troubled times

As you consider life over the past two years, and then link that with the uncertainty of the future, do you become frustrated, angry, fearful, or all of the above? In the book of Ester, we read how Ester (a Jew) is made queen in place of Queen Vashti only to have her whole world turned upside down when she discovers that the king's right-hand man, Hamman has put a plan in place to kill all Jews (Est 3:8-9.12-15). Initially, Ester focused on the threat at hand and then in fear chooses to remain silent, hoping that her position would result in her salvation. Her Uncle Mordecai, however, helps to reset her worldview by reminding her of who really is in control i.e. God. Further, God (who does not lie, Titus 1:2) had promised to keep His people and it was He who had raised Ester ester up to be Queen, putting her in a position to be able to assist His people.

As Mordecai said, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Ester 4:14)

In short, if she allowed the situation to take her eyes off of her God, God would still intervene, but she and her family would lose out. Matthew 6:22 says, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Ester was in a position to be a saving light for the Jewish people. All she needed to do was to draw from the right source.

As Christmas approaches I remember two other lights i.e. the great company of heavenly hosts and the Bethlehem star. Both appeared at a dark time in history but heralded the truth of the soon coming King and light of the world.

Isaiah 52:7 says:

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

Today are we heralds good news, are you proclaiming peace? When we speak, do you declare good things? Does our life speak of salvation? Does the way we live shout out that our God reigns?

If you are a Berean (Acts 17:11), that is those who went away and checked everything that Paul said against scripture (comparing against what God says), you would have noticed that my opening statement was false. The future is not uncertain, the truth is that we do know what the future holds:

Things are going to get worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13)
Those who endure to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:14; Churches in Revelations)
The whole world (past and present) will bow before Jesus, to the glory of our God and Father (Philippians 2:10-11, Romans 14:11)

There is no uncertainty, God is in control, and we already know the beginning from the end. All we are asked to do is to continue (2 Timothy 3:14) until our Lord calls us home; looking up because that time is indeed nearer than when we first believed (Luke 21:28, Romans 13:11). But at the same time, we need to let our light shine so that those around us who don't know Christ can be drawn to Him.

In closing, let's ensure that our worldview is the same as our Lord's. Scripture tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If there ever was a time we needed to be grounded in the Word it is today. David reinforces this idea in Psalm 119: 11 where he says that hiding God's word in his heart assists him in not sinning against God. It might be time to assess how much effort and time we are spending drawing our direction from the cisterns of the world and get things instead fact-checked against what our God says. Saying this makes me think of Jeremiah 2:13 where God says, "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water."

This is the message that we need to be spreading:

This world is not our home and even more than that, it is temporal.
God loves us and if we come to Him, He will redeem us.
In short, we can rest in the fact that not only is our God in control but that today we are living out his plan which will ultimately seem us ruling and reigning with Him through eternity.

And these are some of the things that we should be focusing on.

At a time when the Romans had the Jews in subjection, Christ puts it succinctly, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16).

Do we live our lives in such a way so as to allow Christ to shine brightly through us to a lost and dying world?

The truth is that as God’s children we should know true peace while at the same time radiating His glory such that when people look at us they take note that we are walking with Jesus.

If you are reading this and don’t know this peace and hope but instead are living frustrated and anguished by what you see happening in the world, can I encourage you to reach out to God, calling on Him? Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, that we will be saved. Saved not only from an eternal death but also from the perpetual anguish, stress, and hopelessness that this world so often delivers.