A WORLD IN TURMOIL
INTRODUCTION
A world in turmoil describes a state of widespread confusion, instability, reflecting on current global challenges such as conflicts, economic hardship, political upheaval, refugee crises, and rising extremism, leading to anxiety and feelings that seem overwhelming at times.
In the Bible, the term “turmoil” captures not just physical upheaval but also emotional and spiritual disarray. The Hebrew scriptures frequently illustrate turmoil as a state where confusion reigns as when the Israelites were wandering in the desert, grappling with uncertainty and fear after their exodus from Egypt.
A World in Turmoil
Sources of Entrapment
The Prophet Jeremiah cried out: O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved, How long shall your vain (wicked) thoughts lodge with you (Jeremiah 4:14)? A world in turmoil promotes the need for such a question to shake the mind of those who have fallen into acceptance of wickedness that is being promoted as healthy to an individual or nation.
It was noted that such thinking today can arise from many sources: Absorbing immoral movies and television; carelessly surfing the Internet; listening to malicious talk; ignoring the Word of God; giving into a materialistic worldview. Will we allow the sanctifying Scriptures and the purifying blood of Christ to cleanse our heart and mind or will we persist in sin-filled thinking and experience God's judgment?
A question was asked: Which will it be Christian Biblical Values or totally secular values? We are in a crucial moment throughout what once were the Christian nations of the Western world. Many today want secular values without reference to God. There has been a acceptance of that which was previously unacceptable due to the fact that the Word of God is not being promulgated, as before, in its entirety; that which does not owe up to the present lifestyle is often omitted while the niceties of God’s Word are promoted.
Turmoil Exposed
The Prophet Isaiah, in speaking the words of the Lord, asked: Who is among you that fear the Lord that obeys the voice of his servant that walks in darkness and has not light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay (rely) upon his God (Isaiah 50:10). A world in turmoil needs such a question, to ease one back to the Lord, to turn the world around, from darkness into the light of the Gospel message of peace.
Nations under the leadership of godly instruction; tuned into the Word of God, and its guiding principles, does not promote a world in turmoil, rather peace from a troubled world that often promotes anxiety and suffering rather than the peace of God. A poem from an unknown author promotes such a concept: If I can endure for this minute whatever is happening to me, no matter how heavy my heart is or how dark the moment may be.
If I can remain calm and quiet with my entire world crashing about me secure in the knowledge God loves me. If I can but keep on believing what I know in my heart to be true that darkness will fade with the morning and that this will pass away too; then nothing in life can defeat me. For as long as this knowledge remains I can suffer whatever is happening, for I know God will break all the chains that are binding me tight in the darkness trying to fill me with fear. For there is no night, without dawning and I know that my morning is near.
National Corruption
The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: Therefore is judgment (justice) far from us, neither does justice (righteousness) overtake us, we wait for light, but behold obscurity (darkness); for brightness, but we walk in darkness (gloom) (Isaiah 59:9). In a world in turmoil, of nations or individuals, no longer in tune to godly instruction, will promote what Isaiah proclaimed.
One such instance: We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us.
We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. (Abraham Lincoln). Have those words been lost in the shuffle of remembrance of the past as we venture into a world in turmoil (darkness) rather than light (peace and prosperity in the Lord)?
Return to the Truth
Scripture reveals: By this time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles (sayings) of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat (solid food) (Hebrews 5:12). There has been a progressive social gospel introduced, and accepted, that does little to promote the eternal truths of God’s Word but rather a walking away from its life-giving message.
Jesus gave warning to the church at Ephesus: I know your works, and your labor, and your patience (perseverance) for my sake have labored, and have not fainted (become weary), nevertheless I have somewhat again you, because you have left your first love, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Revelation 2:2-5).
It was noted that the solution to this condition is threefold: (1) Remember your former devotion to Christ; (2) Repent of the present lack of love and devotion; and (3) Return, that is do the things that were characteristic of devotion in earlier years.
Peace in Midst of Turmoil
Jesus told His disciples that they could have peace in the midst of a world in turmoil and they would receive the peace He gives. Some people think that the way to have peace is by changing your circumstance or environment, by going on a trip, or to go somewhere that is peaceful. One cannot find long-lasting peace through such avenues; for real and lasting peace can only come through the peace giver.
Jesus said: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (because of a world in turmoil) (John 14:27). It was noted that the born again person enters the world of light, truth, and love. God’s redeeming love opens our eyes to our own pitiful (sinful) condition. When we experience deliverance from guilt and the joy of salvation, we discover something that cannot be duplicated by the world. The love of Christ that redeems us comes and lives in our lives by the abiding presence of Christ.
Jesus gave an invitation: I stand at the door and knock (door of one’s heart); if any man hear my voice, and open the door (only you can), I will come in to him, and will sup (dine or fellowship) with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20). This was addressed to a church which said: I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. Jesus revealed: Know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind (Revelation 3:17); then offered a pathway back to Him, through repentance.
Future Glory Promised
The Prophet Isaiah, in speaking the words of the Lord, said: Arise, shine; or your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the world (a world in turmoil), and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall rise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you (Isaiah 60:1-2).
The Prophet Ezekiel, in speaking the words of the Lord, speaking of Israel’s restoration, based on repentance, said: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things (ungodliness), not with their transgressions; but I will save them out of their dwelling places (of such a nature), wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse (forgive) them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 37:23).
A promise originally given to King Solomon regarding the people of Israel, was based on repentance as well: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal (deliver) their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). A promise that is applicable to all (nation or individual) who will call on the Lord in repentance and faith.
God's Provision
Scripture reveals: God so loved the world (you and I), that he gave his only begotten Son (one of a kind born of a virgin without man), that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Apostle John wrote: He that believes on the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has everlasting life (a heavenly abode); and he that believes not the Son shall not see life (such a destination); but the wrath of God abides (remains) on him (John 3:36).
Apostle Paul wrote: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (the Lord Jesus Christ) shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under Heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The decision as to one’s final resting place (Heaven or Hell) rests with each individual.
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