January 4, 2005
I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
-Isaiah 46:11
Fyodor Tiutchev, a Russian poet and diplomat, described the frightening world conditions as he saw them back in 1854.
He said, in a letter to his wife: “What is bewildering is the conviction—and it is becoming more and more general—that in all the perils that confront us, the direction of affairs is given over to a way of thinking that has no longer any understanding of itself. It is like being in a carriage, descending an increasingly precipitous slope, and suddenly realizing that there is no coachman in the box.”
It’s interesting that his comments are similar to what is happening in the age in which we live, yet he was talking about the world over 150 years ago. It does seem that humankind is traveling aimlessly down a winding path with no one to guide them. In the senseless acts of terrorism that have occurred the past several years, it is hard not to agree wholeheartedly with Tiutchev’s remarks.
An unbeliever may understand these events to be a sign of our world spinning wildly out of control. But as Christians, we see the world in a different light. We know that while Satan is called the “ruler of this age,” God has a bigger and more powerful plan for this old world. He is in ultimate control of what is to happen.
As the world continues on, never forget that God has spoken and His promises will come to pass no matter the era. In the midst of all of the world’s turmoil, what a great assurance! God’s mighty hand is “stretched out upon all the nations” (Isaiah 14:26). There is still hope and a purpose for the days ahead found only in the Lord.
THE EARTH CHANGES, PEOPLE SIN,
AND TURMOIL CONTINUES—BUT THE LORD STANDS SURE.