Wars and Rumors of Wars
Are you alarmed by the latest news of the United States attacking Iran in a coordinated effort with Israel—and more recently, other allies? In fact, by the time you read this, there will undoubtedly be more news of wars and rumors of wars.
We should not be surprised, nor should we live in fear. News of war should not cause us to retreat from living the way we would if there were no wars. The truth is, at any given time there are multiple wars going on around the world. If we shut our lives down because of wars, we would never get anything done. We might not get married, have children, pursue a career, go to college, or take a mission trip or vacation—because after all, there are wars going on.
I’m not trying to minimize the horror of war. As one famous general said, “War is hell.” Jesus warned us about wars and rumors of wars when He said in Matthew 24:6 (NIV), “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
I’m 70 years old. That means I’ve lived through a lot of wars that involved our country. When I was a kid, I remember watching the nightly news about the Vietnam War. It was sad. Some of my cousins came back from that war in bad shape. I hate to say it, but just like death and taxes are constant, so is war.
Jesus didn’t tell us to put our lives on hold until war was over. He was forecasting what the end times would look like. I don’t know if we are living in the end times, but even if we are, we still need to get on with our lives. As followers of Jesus, we have been called to advance the kingdom of God. The enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to scare Christians into inactivity. When Satan ramps up his attack, it’s not time to retreat—it’s time to advance.
The opportunities to bring hope and blessing to hurting people around us are endless. It’s our time to shine, not run for the hills. Years ago, our family took a vacation to Costa Rica. We rented a place next to a beautiful beach. The man who rented it to us was living in constant fear of the end of the world. He had left a beautiful home in Laguna Beach to hide out in Costa Rica with his family. We called him “End-of-the-World Gary.” Tragically, after living like this for many years, his family couldn’t take it anymore and moved on without him. As far as I know, Gary is still waiting for the end of the world.
Here are some things you can do while the wars rage on: join a ministry that helps other people, do fun things with your family, go to the zoo, go hiking, or take advantage of the thousand other things you can enjoy in San Diego. If you’re young and want to get married, go for it. If you want to start a nonprofit organization to help people, the only one stopping you is you.
Get on mission with God and enjoy the life He has given you. There are no guarantees about what tomorrow will bring. Plan like you’re going to live to be 100—but live like Jesus is coming back today.
Stay close to Jesus and enjoy your life,
Steve