Holding the Line: What to do when the World’s on Fire

So what do you do when it feels like the world is on fire? When Christian is pitted against Christian? When we see people persecuted for their faith and others taking up the guise of faith for the sake of likes and views? When we see crowds (or ourselves) cheer at the death of someone, whatever our opinion is of that person? What do we do then?

Because I’ll be honest with you, social media no longer feels safe to me. In so many ways, it takes me further from who I am and who I’m called to be – it sows fear and ramps up our anxieties. It shows us an algorithm’s version of the truth. And as someone easily affected by the emotions and hurts of others, and even our world, I find it difficult to navigate some of what I see when I scroll through. So I did the only thing I know to do. I took my fears and the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm me to the only place I could think to go: I took it to God. I did this for a few reasons: (1) He is the only source of untainted truth I know. (2) He has seen it all. Humanities highs and lows. And (3) He knows what the future holds.

So, I can choose to get stuck processing my thoughts and emotions and try to wade through the muck I sometimes find there all on my own. I can seek counsel, but even that is sometimes dicey, especially when they don’t know God. Or I can go to the source.

And I need to hear from God right now, because I am not always sure what my role is at a time like this. Is it to speak loudly and stand on my soapbox, declaring a mix of politics and religion? God knows, enough voices are doing that at the moment. And hear what I am not saying – I believe that faith should be the foundation for ALL functioning in our society, including politics, government and leadership. But when politics (your agenda) comes first in your rhetoric, and God second, I have to start asking some questions. Using God to further your man-made agenda helps no one but you. Or is my role to choose a side and bolster the numbers? Well, what do you do when you don’t find either side all that attractive? I’ll tell you what we do: we choose Jesus. Because sometimes in the middle of watching our world burn, we forget that He was the fourth man in the fire (Daniel 3:24-26). And that, as our world is burning, He is the one we need to keep our eyes on.

So that’s what we do. We hold the line. And we do it in the most counter-cultural way possible. This phrase “hold the line” originates from military tactics, where soldiers maintained a defensive formation to prevent enemy breakthroughs. Think about that for a minute. When we hold the line, when we focus on Jesus first, and every other agenda (including our own) second, then, together, we are able to prevent enemy breakthroughs. What did Jesus do? What did His disciples do? Because let me tell you, when I read the Gospels, it certainly feels like the world was burning. Jesus is headed to the cross and forgives the very men who put Him there. His disciples give their lives to see His message and ethos spread like wildfire. And in Judas, we see what it looks like when we profess (at times authentically) to be following Jesus, but our heart belongs to our agenda first.

Holding the line means we are Hope Carriers in a world that says all hope is gone. And at any moment, we are ready to share the reason for our Hope. Part of being a Hope Carrier is recognising the long game. When we keep our eyes focused solely on this moment, it means we’ve taken our eyes off of God and what He is doing in the midst of it, and what He will be doing in the fallout. Matthew 6:22-23 AMP puts it this way: “The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!” What we learn from this passage is this: Where we focus will determine how we live. And make no mistake, we will fear, we will have anxiety as we look at the world around us, but it is where we take our fears and our anxieties that will make all the difference. We take it to Him, and He reframes what we see in light of His plan and the future He already knows will come to pass. We can have hope because we know the nature of the one who created us. His plan is good! The question is simply this: as believers, do we believe that? Can we recognise what He is doing, and partner with Him in those spaces? Can we counter hate with love? Can we counter fear with hope? And can we counter anger with peace?

Can I be transparent for a second? I find this to be the harder path. When I am wronged. When someone has hurt me or mine, I want to retaliate and make them bleed – it must be the Greek blood in me. I am fiercely protective, and justice is a very high value for me. But even in those moments, I have to ask myself: what will my self-centred retaliation achieve? And what is God calling me to do? And am I willing to lay down what I want to do, and rather do what He wants me to do. Because more often than not, the two are not the same.

I think of Peter in the Garden. I think of Jonah running in the opposite direction. I think of Adam and Eve, choosing what they believed would be better. And the honest truth is that God’s way will always be better. And that’s where stewardship comes in.

Stewardship means taking care of something, often on behalf of someone else. When my view of this life is a “long game” one, it means that I become OK with making decisions that might not benefit me now, but may in the future. And more than that, making decisions that might benefit someone else, and may never benefit me at all.

When I say this is the harder path, it’s because it’s easy to give into anger, and fear and mistrust. But it’s hard to swim upstream and go against everything that the world is telling us is true: Live for self. Be whoever you think you should be. Take revenge. Take what’s yours. Step on those who stand in your way. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You have 70 years, live for now.

But if I view my life in the light of eternity, it reframes the conversation. It means I invest in others, knowing that they will reap the rewards of those investments, not me. I sow seeds, the fruit of which I will never reap. I show love to those who have wronged me, even though it costs me heavily. Even if they reject that love, and I do what the Father asks, because He knows that my life poured out as an offering will build foundations for a future rooted in His love, His grace and His plan. But to live this way, I need to recognise an inalienable truth: What He is building is better than anything I could engineer on my own.

But all of this only works if I truly let Him lead. And to do that, I need to submit my will to Him. My hopes and dreams for my family – submitted. My financial future – submitted. My political agendas – submitted. My hatred and unforgiveness – submitted. My racism and greed – submitted. My pride and control – submitted.

If only it were that easy, hey Reader? But as I read that list, I feel confronted and uncomfortable, because I know that so much of my heart is unsurrendered. And normally, I would spiral into self-condemnation and a heart posture of “aren’t we past this already?” But even as I say that, I don’t feel condemned, not anymore – because condemnation never got me anywhere. If anything, I feel spurred on to surrender more and more of my heart to Him. Because what the world needs most in the midst of the fire is more of His presence. And our surrendered lives become a conduit for that. Every encounter with Him is one more step towards a fully surrendered life. And I take solace in the fact that even if I’m not there yet, I desire to be.

So how about you, Dear Reader? Would you hold the line with me? Would you put down your agenda, your anger, your fear, your preconceived ideas over your life, your children, your future, your vocation, your city, your country – and simply let God lead. Because there’s no better place to be than in the “sweet spot” of God’s love and grace. Incidentally, that term, “sweet spot” originated in sports, such as baseball and tennis, to describe the precise point on a bat or racket that produces the most power and control when striking a ball. Let that sink in.

Praying for you in the journey, friends.