Better Times Will Come
Helen Francis
When I was young I used to be somewhat impatient with my parents’ need to listen to the news every day, especially when we got a television and they had to watch it through to the end whilst I was waiting to do something else.
In many households at the time the 10 o'clock news was the last thing watched before bed and the newspaper was the first thing read over breakfast. Of course my parents were those who had come through world wars, and it was important to them to keep abreast of the times they lived in and that didn't change as other major world events, like the cold war, unfolded.
Interestingly nowadays, despite the unstable nature of the world stage, I hear many people saying “I don't watch the news anymore, it's too depressing” and I count myself among them in terms of not watching a nightly news bulletin, but I do check in on a weekly basis to catch a glimpse of what's going on.
The failed ceasefires, the erupting volcanoes, the acts of terrorism, economic decline… it can all get too much to think about.
Jesus predicted life would be like this in Matthew 24:
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. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:6-8
What stands out for me in this passage is the reassurance that it's meant to happen because a birth is coming, and knowing that we needn't be alarmed.
Jesus' words echo sentiments from Psalm 46, a wonderfully encouraging Psalm which begins “God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble, so we will not fear”. Understanding that seismic world events are ‘birth pains’ and that God is with us, helps us cope.
Despite the horrific situations depicted in the Psalm (verse 2: ‘even if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea’ & verse 6: ‘nations are in uproar and kingdoms fall’), its emphasis is on God being in control, being ever present, and bringing us through these birth pangs to the glorious outcome beyond:
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done… He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46:7-11
We pray for better times, and better times will come because God is a loving God who ordains it. In the meantime let's encourage one another with the truth of what's really going on, new birth.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed… The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Romans 8:18-19,21-22
We don't dismiss the seriousness of some news stories, but we can use God's perspective to give reassurance that peace will come.
