What’s New? Not Much.

I used to love watching Family Feud when I was a little girl. I was pretty good at it, too. I can hear Richard Dawson now, “Name something that people take to work with them.” I would race to get all the right answers. Recently, I turned on a national news channel. After about thirty minutes I was sufficiently disappointed, disgraced, and dismayed. So, I asked myself, “Name something that is happening in the world right now that was not mentioned in the Bible.”

Mass Killings? Nope. Human trafficking? Nope. Adultery? Prostitution? Baby mama drama? Nope. Nope. And nope. Racial and ethnic tensions? Nope. I could not come up with a single thing from the news that had not been here since the beginning of time.

For the life of me I could not come up with ten things that were not already infecting the world from the beginning. Speaking of infections… Do you know how confused I was when I saw that there was a measles quarantine at UCLA? It was a real Marty McFly moment. Epidemics and outbreaks, famine and feuding have all been apart of life forever.

So here’s my dilemma. If nothing has really changed and it’s all been here from the beginning why does this feel so much worse? I caught myself saying “These are the last days” but then I remembered that my great-grandmother used to say that back in the 70s. We’ve burned bras and flags. We’ve torn down monuments and barriers. We’ve always had a national enemy: the Germans, the Russians, the Taliban, Mexicans. Give us Barabbas instead!

After studying the human trafficking travesty in Judges 21, I came to the same conclusion as the Ecclesiastes writer. “There is nothing new under the sun.” People say that we need God now more than ever. The truth is…we need God today just as much as Adam and Eve did in Eden. Think about it. They were in that perfect garden in a perfect world. Even so, a snake roamed around waiting to make his move. Evil has been ever present in the world. Even when the world was perfect and unblemished by sin, evil was present.

So why are we getting so bent out of shape now? We need to help people understand that the presence of evil doesn’t deny the presence of God. Hurting people struggle to believe in a loving God because the world is filled with horrors and hate. So, let’s not get weary in well-doing. Let’s keep fighting the good fight. Keep doing your part to show the everyone around you that God is good, God is love, and God is GOD…even the a snake in view.