You Have a Job to Do!

So much turmoil in our world. And so much of it in our own country. Anger. Revenge. Hate. Tragedy. Deception. COVID. Issues like LBGQT, transgenderism, and abortion. And the list goes on. Right is seen as wrong and wrong as right. Paul told Timothy that the last days would look like this:

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT

As believers, we can choose how to respond to what is happening. Despair? Anger? Fear? We may wonder where God is in all this. Is he still with us? Habakkuk felt that way. Judah had become a violent society. Habakkuk cried out to God:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.”

Habakkuk 1:2-4 NLT

God’s answer? He hadn’t left. God’s promise? Even though worse times were still ahead for Judah, eventually things would change: “For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord” (Habakkuk 1:14 NLT). God’s promise and Habakkuk’s response at the end of the chapter give us hope for today:

The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer,  able to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:19 NLT

Although I believe it’s important for us to stay informed about what is happening in our country and in the world, that should not be our main focus. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].

Hebrews 12:1-2 AMP

As we focus on Jesus and draw closer to him, the Holy Spirit will guide our path. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I believe that God has designed an individual plan for each of us, a purpose for our journey. He has given every one of us special gifts and unique circumstances. He has a job for each of us to do amid all this chaos. We are all to keep our eyes on him . . . to grow in him each day . . . to love others . . . to let his light shine through us to reach a lost and dying world in these last days. But he has given us different ways to do that.

What is God calling you to do? You may be called to run for a political office . . . to start or be involved in a particular ministry . . . to extend Jesus’s love a next-door neighbor . . . to serve as a prayer warrior. The possibilities are endless. Seek God. He will guide you and enable you to fulfill his purpose for your journey.

Now may the God of peace—

    who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,

the great Shepherd of the sheep,

    and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—

may he equip you with all you need

    for doing his will.

May he produce in you,

    through the power of Jesus Christ,

every good thing that is pleasing to him.

    All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT