God IS Fixing This

“God Isn’t Fixing This” screamed the headline of New York’s Daily News the morning after yet another incidence of mass murder in the United States. What we have learned since the events of December 3, 2015,  is that the violence in San Bernardino, California stemmed from a terrorist act, evidence that the insanity of ISIS had officially made its way into the U.S. borders. The newspaper’s headline writers didn’t know that terrorism, not gun control, was the real issue when they wrote their front page, but read in the light of the harsh reality of the true motive for the violence,  the headline is even more jarring. So the question is proper, I think: where is God in all of this?  May I start with this declaration from Jesus of Nazareth, whom I believe to be the Messiah, the Son of God:

“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.” Matthew 24:6 (NIV)

I am not a proponent of any version of “end times” theology which claims to know when the end is coming. Jesus didn’t know, and I certainly don’t know.  But, with the end of the earth as we know it will come the end of war and rumors of war.  God could bring the world to an end right now, before you finish reading this sentence, and the ISIS-spread terror would cease, along with wars and rumors of war in all of the other strife-worn parts of this world. Would you rather that the world end today, or that God continue to show divine patience so that all of his children might be able to know and profess Jesus as Lord? It is so hard to live in the light of the mystery of Advent: Jesus came; Jesus left; Jesus is coming again.  Jesus shall reign and the enemy shall be defeated.  But, in the meantime, which is when we live- today- people die in wars.  In this meantime it is the call and duty of we “keepers of the fire” to “act justly, love mercy, walk humbly,” and to pray for a “peace that is no peace, but strife sown in the sod.”

God is fixing to end the insanity humans commit upon each other.  The truth is though, until Jesus comes again, the “fixing” comes through our hands. Pray for strong hands.

    “ ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.” Revelation 22:20-21 (NIV)