Does it seem like darkness rises up constantly in our world?

The challenges we face in our community, country, and world are not new, but our awareness of them seems to grow day by day. While this increase in information should cause us to advocate strongly for justice, it often leaves us feeling overwhelmed and disoriented. With the saints of ages past, we cry out, “How long, O Lord?”

As followers of Jesus, we are to be concerned about the injustices in our world. Racism, violence, oppression, and the fact that so many people are underfed, underhoused, and underloved in the midst of our material abundance should sound an alarm to every believer. Instead, perhaps as a means of self-preservation, we tend to ignore, downplay, and minimize these challenges as much as possible by suggesting God’s work is primarily future-focused.

“This world has a sin problem” or “We’ll understand it all by and by” are true enough at one level, but we dare not allow such phrases become shameful excuses for overlooking the kingdom work to which we are summoned. If Jesus is truly the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8), then He came not only to heal, to save, and to liberate 2,000 years ago, but is seeking to do the same today through His people.

God has always been concerned about the troubles that trouble us.

Whether clothing Adam and Eve to cover their post-sin shame or touching the wounded and broken through the ministry of Jesus, our Father has always cared about His children who face the struggles and strains of daily life in our fallen world.

So much is wrong in our world that we can often feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of obstacles we face. If we are not careful, we become cynical and frustrated by our seeming inability to make any difference. To our fellow believers who were struggling with the big picture and were tempted to give up, Paul wrote, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Gal 6:9)

As we live daily in community, Jesus commands us to see with His eyes.

The challenges we face in our world are not merely abstract projects or impersonal budget line items- each issue involves real people with real souls who need a real and lasting connection to their Creator.

The grieving mother, the lonely widower, the hopeless addict, and the self-righteous preacher- all stand in need of the healing found through Jesus. Jesus sets a powerful example for us in how He was able to see and to serve real, struggling people in meaningful ways.

Not content to sit back debating theories with the religious, Jesus went to work healing, feeding, and comforting those who suffered most.

We are called to do the same.

This road to healing and restoration in our world will not be an easy one. Just as there is no shortcut to our own spiritual maturity, there is no fast pass to healing the pain of our world, yet we cannot allow the cynicism around us to drown out the certainty that our actions matter.

We cannot predict the harvest, but we can faithfully scatter seeds of hope.

Others will enter into our labors- just as we have entered into the works that began long before us. At times, weariness will rise, but by faith, we refuse to lose heart.

What we plant today in faithful tears will one day yield a harvest of blessing for those who follow us.