Three responses
When it comes to responding to all that’s wrong in our world—oppression and captivity, hunger, and broken health, good people being cast down while the wicked are promoted—we find that there are three typical responses.
One, throwing your hands up in dismay and claiming nothing can be done. Two, single-handedly seeking to solve the world’s issues through self-sufficiency while rallying others to do the same. And, three…trusting in Jesus.
After 22 years in pastoral ministry, I can attest this to be true. I have encountered and engaged with many individuals who fall into one of these responses.
Now, you may think that the third response is the easiest response. This may be true for those who have encountered Jesus. Those who have experienced his redemptive work in the brokenness of the world around us. This means, those who trust in Jesus do not look at the challenges around them in dismay or self-sufficiency, but rather they look to their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who can be trusted with every ill and every evil that plagues our world. They respond from knowing Jesus is faithful to the Father who does not abandon his good creation. Christians can live in hope rather than despair; they live in trust of the One who is trustworthy rather than relying on themselves.
Because of Jesus and their relationship with him, Christ-followers can escape the response of either despair or dogged determinism in the face of all calamities and threats. Instead, they are free to joyfully proclaim to others where they too can confidently place all hope and trust.
Listen to one such proclamation:
Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord. Psalm 146:3-10 (NIV)
If you find yourself in despair because of the overwhelming troubles around you, or if you have exhausted yourself in trying to fix them, Jesus calls you to a third response open to all who put their trust in him—Gloria a Dios!
This is good news! Even in our response to trust Jesus we are not alone. The Spirit empowers us and guides us in all truth. This is also why we come together weekly as a church family to remember God’s faithfulness and remind one another of the hope we have in him. This response flows from coming to know the Father who is faithful to us.
In Jesus, the Father has, presently is, and ultimately will—redeem all things according to his good purposes.
Presented by Heber Ticas
Heber Ticas is an elder in Grace Communion International and is the Superintendent of the churches in Latin America. He also serves as the National Coordinator for Church Multiplication in the United States. The Word of Life each Sunday is taken from ‘Speaking of Life’, (https://www.gci.org/videos/media-speaking-of-life/), a public resource video on the USA website of Grace Communion International.
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