We live in a world that has fallen far from its original estate, far from the initial place of nurturing love and fellowship with God intended by our heavenly Father. How the world got to be this way despite the sovereignty of a loving God is a long story and must wait for another article. Suffice it to say in the words of Jesus that "an enemy hath done this."
It is easy to allow ourselves to get caught up in the downward spiral of negativity when we allow our minds to dwell on the injustice and tribulation we see around us. No matter where you live or where you work, you find all around you the brokenness of a fallen world. This could be your family situation, your job situation, or your close relationships. Needless to say I have not been immune to this.
Let me give you an example from my life. Working for Tennessee Tech has been a great life for me for almost 20 years now, and I have grown to love the people of Tennessee and teaching young people. But in the past few months I have allowed my vision to be darkened by many perceived injustices happening to higher education. As Tennessee slides downward in funding for higher education while all the states around us are enjoying rapid growth, while faculty and staff salaries remain flat and well below the national average, while we simply run out of money every year to buy needed equipment and supplies to give Tennessee students a quality education, I have found myself getting frustrated, angry, and almost incapacitated in negative unproductive thinking. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote that "the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." I can personally attest to that. By the grace of God, I found myself needing to repent of anger. It was either that or go down the tube spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. My Father was not going to allow me to do that without taking a stand in my life.
Thanks be to God that He loves us, forgives us, and restores our souls. For as I began to get my focus back again on my relationship with Jesus, and with His eternal Word, the mighty supernatural power of the Holy Spirit began to work in me once again to restore me to a place of peace. Not that I am indifferent to the wrongs I see, but that I operate once again from a position of power and poise.
This transformation in the human individual is what Jesus came to perform. The Lord Jesus has called believers to be peacemakers, and that in doing so we would manifest ourselves as sons and daughters of God to a lost and dying world. He called us to be the salt of the earth, acting as a preserving influence on a corrupt and evil generation. He called us to be the light of the world, letting the light of truth shine through us to a darkened society by selfless deeds. The Apostle Paul exhorted us to "pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
Francis of Assisi prayed, "Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubting, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I might seek not so much to be consoled, as to console; not so much to be understood by others as to understand others, not so much to be loved, but to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying [to self] that we are born to eternal life."
That needs to become our fervent prayer, for it is impossible to live that way without God's power. Christians fall far short of living that out, but it does not alter the truth of the message. And once we have recovered ourselves and begin to yield once again to the mighty supernatural power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, we WILL establish the kingdom of God on this earth. It is only a matter of time. For as one of the modern creeds says, "We believe in the final triumph of righteousness."
@ copyright 2000 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.