Jesus promises that part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to unpack His wisdom for every new situation we will face so that we will know how to think and act afresh to every new challenge.
Amidst the uncertainty and upheaval of such brutality and carnage now at our doorstep, done by people determined to destroy us, what might be our response as Christ-followers? How do we mentor others who look to us for leadership?
I do not, by any means, have the final word on this. But the following are a few things to consider:
- Love and pray for ISIS. How do we love our enemies? We begin by praying for them — in this case ISIS young men and women. They need a revelation of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, we have many contemporary testimonies of Muslims having extraordinary conversions to Jesus via dreams, visions, etc.
- Grieve. We need to lead our people to grieve this unrelenting loss of life. Whether it be the many innocent people in Iraq and Syria caught up in this conflict in unimaginable ways, the innocents in France, Beirut, on the Russian airliner, etc., we are witnessing great tragedy. It is good to join Jeremiah in Lamentations or David’s Psalms for help on how to pray.
- Pray for those in authority in our governments. I am not a pacifist. Yet war is always a horrible tragedy. May God give each political leader in the European Union, our President, and many other countries wisdom while having to make very difficult decisions.
- Remember the refugees. The Evil One wants to kill and destroy the genuine innocents fleeing the terrible war in Syria and Iraq. Their lives just grew much more complex after the Paris bombings. Remember that Jesus and Moses were refugees.
- Patiently trust in Jesus. He invites us to live in His peace and to bear good fruit amidst our troubled world. All chaos has boundaries and edges because it is ultimately limited by the power of God. Aquinas said it best: “Fear is such a powerful emotion that when we allow it to take us over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts.”
- Bear witness boldly to the Lord God Almighty. We need to invite people to place their faith in the Lord Jesus, the only Savior of the world, who died, rose and sits at the right hand of the Father. This is a central message of the Revelation, an important book to be reading in these days as it reveals our Lord God Almighty’s powerful grip on historical events when all appears so chaotic on the surface.
I don’t have the answers to ISIS, or how to end this terrible conflict. But I do know this: at the end of the day, Jesus will fill the earth with His glory and He will make everything new (Rev. 21:5)!
