A World to be Lived In

There seems to be so much chaos in this world... so much meaningless violence, suffering, abuse, even death. People are killing cops. Copes are killing people. Christians are being brutalized, even beheaded. People are being chased from their homes simply because of their ethnic heritage. Children from loving families are going astray, becoming entangled in drugs, alcohol and human trafficking. Many are even committing suicide. Parents are aborting babies, organizations are harvesting and selling body parts. People are shooting up movie theaters and college campuses. There's more, but I can't go on.

But the Word of God give me hope. According to the prophet Isaiah, "He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos" Isiah 45:18 (NLT)

God created the world to be a place of life, not chaos.

He is the Lord and there is no other. He publicly proclaims bold promises. He would not have told us to seek Him if He could not be found.

Lord, gather your people who pray only to You... who seek You... who cry out to You...
Gather the cops
  The thugs
    The Christians
Gather those whose ethnicity makes them targets
Gather the parents
  and the children
Speak tenderly to the babies

Lord, we seek You, we stand on your bold promises, we trust you to bring life in the midst of chaos. And You have.

We've seen videos of cops going above and beyond when helping stranded motorists, speaking tenderly to children in the midst of tragedy. We see traffic violators honoring cops, owning their mistakes and taking their tickets with respect.

We see Samaritan's Purse and other organizations reaching out to those suffering from ethnic cleansing and religious persecution.

We see young Americans taking down a gunman on a train in France, and humbly receiving awards for just doing the right thing.

We see Mercy Ministries, WAR, Int'l, and Grace Haven rescuing girls and women from the dispicable practice of sex trafficking.

We see Hope over Heroin, Dream Centers and others offering hope and rehabilitation to homeless drug addicts.

We see soup kitchens, pregnancy centers, foster and adoptive parents stepping up and serving those who desperately what they have to offer.

There is life on planet earth
  There is hope on planet earth
    There is a God who created this earth with His power and preserves the world with His wisdom.
      And that same God will come again and bring us into eternal hope created by His understanding.

We'll see it all then, see it as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us. But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do that lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.  --1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (MSG)