Psalm 125:1-2 (NIV): Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
We live in an era of too much information. Whereas in the past, people knew a lot about what happened in their town and the immediate area, and very little about what was going on in the rest of the world, today the average person is bombarded with news and information at a pace that no one can really assimilate. When we watch, or listen to, or read the news, we can get everything bad or scary that’s going on in the whole world in just a few minutes. Live updates bring huge tragedies right into our living rooms, and action cams take us halfway around the world to see the aftermath of bombings, shootings and riots in real time. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the sheer scope of tragedy, loss, and evil in our world.
But God’s people should never allow themselves to be overwhelmed. Yes, our world is broken, and in a lot of places it’s a real mess. And the further peoples’ hearts get from God, the more messed up the world becomes! But God is still at work in the world, and the people of God would do better to focus less on the tragedies that are occurring everywhere, and more on how God can use us to be salt and light right where we are. If we would begin our day by asking where God is working nearby, and then focus our attention there, drawing people into the kingdom, praying for and with those who are hurting, bringing God’s viewpoints to bear on local politics and issues, and generally shining the light of His presence into the dark places of our own communities, things would begin to change quite rapidly. God’s people are not called to act world-wide as individuals, but to be salt and light where they are right now. (Ultimately this will work on a world-wide scale, though, because God has people all over the world who can change their small part of the planet one life at a time!)
Note that this does NOT mean that we shouldn’t pray for people in other places, or do what we can to help when there are tragedies. But it is way too easy to be so overwhelmed by the things that are going on world-wide that we don’t actually do anything at all. It is also easy to be so distracted by the things that are going on in other parts of the world that we do not passionately pray for the communities where we live; we do not consciously act in our own neighborhoods to help people to find the Lord and remake their lives in His image. If we have to choose to do one or the other, we would be much more effective in passionately praying for and working among the people in our own communities than trying to pray for everything that is happening in the whole world, and trying to do things in places farther away that we can reach.
God’s people must always remember that He is the Almighty, and nothing is too hard for Him, even changing the world! And as long as God’s people remain in Him, as long as we work where He directs us, and steadfastly seek His direction and His power, we need never be overwhelmed or driven to despair by the broad scope of evil in the world. We just need to shine where God has us right now.
Father, what a great way to look at it. It IS easy to get completely overwhelmed by the evil and hurt in our world. Help us to start putting our attention more on our local area – our homes and family; our workplaces; our friends and neighbors; our community. Help us to seek our direction from You, and then to simply work the field You have given us, to help change it into Your kingdom, one life at a time. Amen.