It has been said that the Bible is not merely a book of suggestions. Neither is it a leather bound life coach or moral manual for being a nice person. It’s author, it’s story, and it’s revelation is an anchor in the storm, a solid rock in the midst of shifting sands, a light in the darkness, and a conduit of connection to the Creator. I read the Bible and I seek to adhere to its principals because I believe God’s word reigns supreme and remains forever preeminent over every opinion of man.

So much can be said, and is being said, about the political and geopolitical implications of the region-shifting maneuvers underway. In light of all of that, I would like to share what the Lord has been speaking to me these past several weeks. The Lord has been drawing my heart’s attention to something that the psalmist wrote in Psalm 23:5, He writes, “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.”

God has prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We don’t have to run anywhere but there. Come to the table. God is anointing our heads with fresh oil, and God is causing our cups to run over in abundance.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? How do you manage your life when

challenging life circumstances seem to be the things that are managing you? How do

you make plans when many things around you are in a constant state of change and

disruption? How do you maintain a faith perspective when disappointments and

discouragements are the dominating narrative surrounding your current story?

These are, but a few of, the soul-searing questions that arise in seasons of uncertainty.

Today, in my own time of prayer, I was captured by the biblical phrase, “to execute on them the written judgement — this honor have all His saints”. I couldn’t shake it. I remembered that these words are found in Psalm 149, and I went to that passage to meditate on this thought.

So, this is a very interesting story from the Bible. Perhaps it has some relevance to what is happening today. The God of the Bible is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This particular story is about Jacob. I’ll summarize it and make an application, but you can read the whole story in Genesis 29.

Just to be clear, this is not a religious, right-wing, knee-jerk reaction to the worldliness of the world. I get it. There is light and there is dark, there is music and there is art. Sinners sin, Jesus saves, and God so loved the world. I know. But sometimes, things just need to said.

Perhaps you have heard of the frog and the kettle? Basically, the boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid (lukewarm) water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.

In Luke 17:26-30, Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God. He is speaking about His return and the coming of the Son of Man, and makes reference to that time being like the “days of Noah” and the “days of Lot”.

Jesus isn’t nervous, and He doesn’t want us to be either. Anxiety, worry and fear are viral spirits behind a global soul pandemic with eternal stakes at play. Sure, there is valid concern over the current corona situation, and the confusing way in which the powers that be are spinning the narrative and pushing short term solutions with no real clarity regarding the long term risks.