Revolution is here; do you see it?

I’m regularly at a loss of what to do in this time we live, and with everything that is going on in the world. However, one thing I am sure of this:

We are being baited. Baited to react.

As believers, we are never called to react; we are called to respond. 

The world is on fire, and this fire will not end until the end of the age.  I do not need to get into the details as they are becoming more and more obvious to everyone around us: the smoke screens by the governments of this world, the news outlets of both sides only working to create stories, not uncover the facts. Wars breaking out, road rage worsening, and the most intimate details of people’s lives on broad display for everyone who has a phone or tablet.  Never in our world has wickedness like this existed and there is no prior history in which you can compare.

One thing though is for certain: you are not created to play by the rules. You are to created to play within the rules, and around the rules. There are two banks of the river of this life we live in, and either can shipwreck us:

On the one bank is the need for justice. With this comes a deep desire to uncover and reveal plans of the most high in the inner rooms, rooms which we will never be invited to.  This bank is filled with shipwrecked multitudes of Robespierres; wanting justice, wanting scalps, and wanting natural power all in the name Godly justice.  However much we agree with many of these calls for justice, putting power in the hands of few or just one, even if we agree with the reforms, will always lead to tyranny. This is hard for me as I want to see Godly change in the world, and often political power seems to be the quickest means of change. Thankfully, it’s not the only means.

On the other bank is blindness: ‘As long as it doesn’t affect me, I will continue to lead my life as I have always have. I ignore the coming doom and accept no morality as my true morality:  I accept everything as acceptable.’ However, the problem with this is that if everything is acceptable, only those who say something is not acceptable…are now not acceptable themselves.  This is the beginning the great separation of society and great persecution: the good and the bad, the in and the out.

The great question is how do we stay in the river? How not to hit a bank and become shipwrecked in inflamed justice (or injustice) or shipwreck in delusion, where nothing really is wrong or falling apart in this world, although it’s obvious we are at the beginning of the end of the age?

The Lord is the river.  He is engaged, and proactive. He is creating communities, and building businesses. He is a doer. But to merely say “follow Jesus” isn’t enough, not in this time. This time is too much, too wild, and we must prepare. Or is it?

After going back and forth, weighing one thing versus another, to do this, or to do that, this is what I have firmly reasoned: pick a battle or two, and fight it with the Lord at your side.  But whatever you do, you must fight; you must battle.

I recently read the life of David. It’s known that the only times David truly fell into sin were when he wasn’t battling. When David was merely reclining in his palace did he fall into sin with Bathsheba. Or when he was complacent and wanting to see all of the good he had acquired, he had his general go count his troops…for fun…for pride…for false security.

All of the other accounts of David are in battle, in prayer, in building, in shepherding, and often in times of merely running for his life.

You were made for battle and building. Often, building is a form battle. You were made to finish, made to grow, and made to expand on the Earth: spiritually and physically.  The worst thing we can to do is wait. Wait for the end to come, wait for my money to grow, wait for the problems blow on by, wait for Jesus to return, wait to get back into the office – you name it. If you’re just waiting, you’re dying. 

There is a time to wait, but that kind of waiting is waiting on the Lord; not waiting on favorable conditions. Waiting on the Lord is always active, waiting to hear what He’s saying, doing, and waiting for the next “Go.” But just be sure of this: never wait on Jesus to come back – he will be sure to ask you what you were doing while he was gone. He wants us busy, and busy with his battles.

But more than we ‘should’ get busy, we were made for it. You were made to push, work, sweat, dare I say…TRY. 

But what does that mean for today? Especially as the world is seemingly…or seamingly coming apart.

After doing too much, and doing too little, and being too involved, and checking out completely, this is what I return to again and again in all of my reasoning:

Choose something. Choose two things. But do not choose everything.

Pick a side and stick with it. And if you find out it was wrong, go to the other.  Include the Lord in ever decision, every decision to battle or build. See what he says, and wait on him to answer.  But do not wait forever.

Building a family is important, but we will not build little world changers if we aren’t ourselves already changing the world.  Building a business is important, or working a job is important, but we will not change a society if we aren’t transforming the culture already in the workplace.  Merely doing these things as well as we can will not change us or the world. We were never meant to do things as well as we can; we are meant to do the impossible.

We must do all of these things with the intent of radical world change; nothing less.

But we were never meant to do all things; this is also a trap.  We see too much on our phones and TVs, and there is too much to take in and take on, to fight and to battle. It’s overload, and if you consume too much, you will check out completely.  That is not the answer.

The Lord will tug at your heart, or inflame you, with one issue of life specifically. Go with it. Stick with it. Believe in it.  Do it, fix it, transform it. 

We do not have the time, or the resources to fight every battle.  And we aren’t meant to let society fall into complete moral decay without a fight.  We are meant to stand, hold a line, and fight.

In all this, I am never working to limit the power of the gospel. Jesus said go into all of the world and heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and drive out demons. We should be operating in all of these all of the time. 

What I have reasoned is the issues of the day. They are real issues, even if we cannot see the full picture or have the entire solution.  But we were meant to step into the arena and do something. You were never made to tackle every issue of the world – you were called to impact the world. And rest assured if you and your family are heads down tackling just one of these issues of our day, there is someone else tackling another issue that may also be close to your heart.  We are meant to work as one, but all very differently. Trust that others in your life are doing their work, doing their calling, bringing revolution to where they are at in the way they do it. You were never meant to do it their way, either.

Revolution? Absolutely. Nothing less will do. Take the devil’s ground, stomp on his head, and fight to the death, and beyond.