Thinkaloud | Footnotes of history

a God who woos reluctant people O

ur present age, with its indiscriminate violence, its bloody and tragic uprisings, its national upheavals and its political sophistry is a time for Christians to shout and sing about victory in Jesus. It is time for followers of the risen Lord of Life to follow God’s agenda for this world, rather than marching lemming-like to the empty rhetoric and pseudo wisdom of modern gurus. It is time for those whose citizenship is in Heaven to judge all political solutions to our problems by the Word of God.

The tyrants and the political masters who occupy the centre stage of history hold their moment of glory for a few fleeting seconds before they are lost in the darkness, footnotes of history. They think vainly that their good times, their day of power, will last forever. If they ever knew the words of Shakespeare, they have long forgotten them:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more . . . .

They have ignored the solemn truth so appositely put by Rudyard Kipling in his great hymn, “Recessional.”

Far-called, our navies melt away:
On dune and headland sinks the fire -
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!

These words from  the past give perspective to the wild and fearful happenings of the 21st century.  They reveal God’s agenda.

This agenda starts with the belief that He is, that He has revealed Himself fully in Jesus Christ, and the He is in control of world events.  The God we serve is not a remote deity who is content to let the world go to Hell.  No, He is intimately involved in the matrix of life.  He hears the brief, terror-stricken scream of a student as the tank rumbles over her, grinding her body to pulp.  He understands the utter desolation of the refugee who has spent years in a camp without hope.  He sits in on the board meeting when the chairman decides on a company takeover “just for the fun of it,” though it will cause desperate hardship.  He stands with the child who is seduced and brutalized by one thought to be trustworthy.

God’s agenda is Him self, and the revelation that He has the healing of the nations, if they will only accept Him.

Ours is not a distant God, remote, unfeeling,
Who is careless of our loneliness and pain,
Through the ministry of men He gives His healing,
In their dedicated hands brings hope again.
Someone cares, someone cares,
Someone knows your deepest need, your burden shares;
Someone cares, Someone cares,
God Himself will hear the whisper of your prayers.

What is history but “His story,” the tale of a God who woos reluctant people to Himself, a God who never gives up, a God whose nature is mercy and forgiveness.

Some day, long after the leaders who stride the world stage are but memories buried in a silicon chip, and when the yellowed newspapers of urgent news have crumbled to dust, when the stars have grown cold and the sun has become a cinder, the God who is Lord of all will still be love and light and laughter.  And fully alive in Him, as distinct and completed personalities, will be those who have victory in Jesus now.  Such believers are not the footnotes of history; they are the true history of the real world.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a copy editor of theRubicon and the author of theRubicon series called Resurrected Writers.

1 Comment to Thinkaloud | Footnotes of history

1. Bang on, as always !! ” Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One…. The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them….Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way…. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:1-2,4,10-12 NIV) Psalm 73 is another powerful reminder that it’s a short ride - shorter than we think. God help us all :”Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. (Psalm 90:12 NIV). Thanks Max !!
Peter Eason ( Major ) on June 19th, 2008

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