Last Friday night in the city of Portland, OR rioters burned a stack of Bibles. Protests and rioting have continued nightly in Portland for over two months. Seattle, WA has seen similar happenings, including the short-lived “CHOP,” a pretend “nation” of sorts, but it was no joke as lives were violently taken amidst the rebellion.
Churches in these areas are striving and struggling as they seek to share Jesus Christ and pray for the peace of their cities. Covid-19 has made everything we do much more difficult, but pastors and churches remain faithful. Although I have sensed a “settled sadness” in many, if not most, there is also a confidence that God is at work.
Many years ago as I was reading the story of Jericho’s walls tumbling down, a truth jump out that I hadn’t considered before. As Israel marched around Jericho day after day, God was at work, and he was doing more than they knew. God’s battle plan for Jericho was unlike any before or since. Yet the people obeyed Him, marching every day, then on the seventh day adding trumpets and a shout to the march. The truth that leaped from the text for me that day was that the decision of the people to obey God, and march around the city, built their faith and their confidence in God. God’s battle plan for Jericho had never been used before, and it couldn’t have made much sense to a military commander, but their obedience developed their faith as they witnessed God do a mighty work.
I must confess, when I see much of what is happening in the Northwest, and across the nation, I can settle into sadness. But then I read God’s Word, as I do daily, and I’m reminded that God is always at work, and He’s always doing more than we know. I see God at work in some of my neighbors as they seek ways to teach their children and build their families. I’ve seen tears in the eyes of church attenders as they sing together, and I’ve seen their tears through my own. I’ve seen people lose hope in a dream built by human hands, and find hope in a Savior who overcame a troubled world. One of our NWBC churches is starting a school while many public schools have announced they will not allow classes to meet. This church sees a need, and an opportunity, provided by the leftward lurch in public schools, and the Covid-19 shutdown. As the pastor, who’s older than me, spoke of his vision and dream for this new school, I was awed and humbled by his faith and confidence in God. Far from sadness, I heard giddiness in his voice as he spoke about the dream God had given him, and how that dream is quickly forming into a workable plan. If we ever thought “certain circumstances” were necessary for joy and peace, we’ve been reminded that they are not.
It still makes me sad when I learn that people down the road and across town are blaspheming the God I love. It bothers me greatly that many in the “ruling class” now consider biblical Christianity as hateful. But then I read the words of a man imprisoned for Christ say to the church in his day that they shined “like stars” in a “crooked and perverted generation” (Phil. 2:15).
People who know and obey God, living in grace and truth, are different from the peoples of the world. This has always been true. The greatest temptation we face is failure to live by faith, and then to act with courage, fueled by faith. We can do this because, by faith, we know that God is doing more than we know. We see Him at work, if only we have eyes to see. Some things God is doing are clear, but He’s even doing more, and that knowledge gives me hope in a troubled world.