A World in Turmoil

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:7-8

“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:37-39

As news outlets show live footage of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the world watches from a myriad of perspectives, whether sociological, financial, geopolitical, theological, etc. Regardless, the situation is real and the implications are vast. While the trauma of war is acute, hope is also, even if it isn’t always immediately clear.

Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives and taught His disciples about the inevitability of wars, famines and earthquakes. He told them that when they hear of these things that they should not be alarmed. Just a few sentences later, He taught them the end will come when people are just going about their lives, unaware until it is too late. 

Jesus is a masterful teacher. He knows, generally speaking, there are two types of people in the world when it comes to calamity: people who always think the world is coming to an end (panic) and people who never think the world is coming to an end (apathy). In the last couple of years there have been pandemics, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, rumors of war, and now a bona fide war on the European continent as Russia has chosen to invade Ukraine. 

When these things occur, the temptation is to panic or to be apathetic, but Jesus carves out a different pathway. He instructs His disciples to be watchful, faithful, compassionate and informed. When the world is in turmoil and your heart is tempted to grow overwhelmed or calloused by the sadness in it, Jesus’ words to His disciples — pray, commit, relate and resist — are still instructive for us today. 

1. Pray. Prayer is the most powerful thing a person can do, and the most natural. Abraham Joshua Heschel once said that “prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living.” This element of surprise gives rise to worship and wonder, but it also gives rise to lament. Lament is the form of prayer that is surprised that evil and suffering exist in a world created by a good God. Lament looks at the character and promises of God, and the pain and suffering and injustice in the world and says, “How long O Lord?” Lament is first mentioned in the Bible at the end of Genesis 4 where, after a brother kills a brother, and a man takes advantage of two women and kills another man, the author states, “at that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). From the earliest humans to hunkered down Ukrainians, people still feel the effects of evil and suffering. Our first and best response is to lament. Weep over the atrocities that people are experiencing even now. 

That element of surprise also gives us the impetus to intercede as well. Intercession is a form of prayer that entreats the Lord on behalf of another. In times of turmoil, it is right and good to intercede for victims of suffering. It is also good to intercede on behalf of perpetrators and for world leaders. To take actual people before the throne of God honors both the image of God in others and the role He has given followers of Christ in the world: to be a kingdom of priests who go before God on behalf of others. It is also critical to pray for fellow followers of Christ who are suffering. This is a way we grow in solidarity with brothers and sisters around the world. Pray for strength, courage and love to shine forth from the church in the midst of horrific darkness. 

2. Commit. Jesus said in his first sermon that “blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:8). One of the best ways to not be overwhelmed or apathetic when the world is in turmoil is to commit to being, and calling others to be, a peacemaker. Political rivalry doesn’t just happen overnight. The seeds of competition and rivalry are latent in every human heart. As you see things like pride and ‘othering’ take place throughout the world, let it serve as an opportunity to repent of the same things in your own heart so that the fullness of the gospel can wash your heart with a love that casts out fear. This will give you the resources to be faithful wherever you are. And if there are Eastern Europeans in your city, you have a great opportunity to show compassion toward them by hearing their stories, seeing how they are processing the events in their homelands and be a non-anxious presence in their lives when they need one the most. This is faithfulness at its finest — when the love of Christ so fills you that you can’t help but give it away to others. 

3. Relate. One of the best ways to avoid being apathetic when calamity strikes in the world, is to put yourself in the shoes of others. When you do so, you humanize the situation that someone is going through, and one of the best ways to avoid being overwhelmed when wars and such happen is to relate to these things biblically. Read and reread the Bible over and over again so that you can gain the appropriate categories to frame world events with. Kings and kingdoms have come and gone throughout all of human history. The situation currently happening in Europe is not new. It is the same situation we see in Exodus and 1 Kings and 2 Kings and the Gospels and in every century since. Wherever fear and intimidation and injustice are, Scripture says so are the enemies of God (Psalm 82). The same sovereign God who worked in those days, is the same God who is Lord over all now. So, though we may not see how these events are going to pan out, we know Him. 

4. Resist. Resist the temptation that you are omniscient regarding the details of every calamitous situation. Remember, unless you’re close to the particular situation, you’re getting mediated information. Whether it is social media, one of the major news outlets or ‘Jolene down the street’, you are going to have partial information. Even if your hunch or intuition is right, resisting this temptation will help you stay prayerful and compassionate regarding the situation. Also, resist hopelessness. Christianity is the only worldview that provides real resources for how to handle the emotional and psychological turmoil that comes from global trauma. Death is never the end of any story. Resurrection is. Which is why the greatest prayer we can pray, the greatest act of faithfulness we do and the best posture we can operate out of is the same one the Bible ends on, which is “come quickly Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). He’s coming. Soon. And the wars and earthquakes and famines will cease when He does. 

So if the deepest desire of our hearts is the return of Jesus, then when the world feels like it is spinning out of control, we can actually do what Jesus says: pray, commit, relate and resist. In doing so, we are testifying to a kingdom that can never be shaken.