Happy Sunday,
Today you get to hear from Steph Juliot, TPO writer and creator of Praying the News (sign up for prayer texts), while I’m out on paternity leave. Auggie is doing great. Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement!
Scriptural Basis
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5
How dark headlines changed me
Somehow, I ended up as the go-to girl for wars, tragedies, and general global mayhem at The Pour Over.
To be clear, TPO’s writers don’t have assigned “beats” (that’s what professional journalists call them; I saw it on TV). We just claim whichever major headline interests us. In the beginning, I claimed the international unrest stories because they generally don’t require much humor… and the other writers are much funnier than I am. Too much pressure.
But a strange, unexpected thing has happened after more than two years of writing about the bleakest headlines: my vision of God’s glory has only grown.
Forcing myself to look closely into deep darkness and shine light into it for our readers, again and again, has trained my heart to see (and believe) a few realities:
1. Our world is broken beyond human repair
The depth and complexity of global issues can instill a sense of helplessness like nothing else.
Take Israel’s war with Hamas. The conflict goes back (literally) thousands of years. Distrust and enmity are core to the identity of Israelis and Palestinians. Faith and land disputes mean they’re diametrically opposed to each other. Any peace (which takes years to negotiate) is temporary, lasting a few years or decades… only to unravel again.
I’ve been stripped of the illusion that human efforts can solve the world’s problems… True, lasting peace will take God’s intervention and a renovation of our hearts. We’re completely dependent on Him.
2. We’re not home yet. This world is not our home
Jesus tells us He’s “going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Peter calls us “strangers and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11). Paul calls us citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). The reality is clear no matter the metaphor: we were made for God’s Kingdom, and that Kingdom hasn’t fully arrived, so we’re not quite home. War and chaos and death feel wrong and unnatural because they are.
When life is going well, I don’t find myself dwelling on eternity with Jesus very often. But when the world’s brokenness is on full display, my longing for a new world is awakened.
3. Death and evil won’t have the final say
We know how this story ends: the entire universe made completely new. That means that whenever it seems like darkness is winning and all hope feels lost, the story’s not over yet.
The Lord will right all wrongs and deal with all injustice. Corrupt leaders will be deposed by the King of kings. Enemies will drop their weapons and bow before the Prince of Peace. Creation itself will be healed, and the restoration will last forever.
Eternity changes everything
When I first started writing for TPO, I thought our common saying that “eternity changes everything” was a little trite (sorry, Jason). Now, it’s the bedrock of my daily work.
Only the hope of Jesus’s return, and the eternity to follow, can give us a purpose and joy that can’t be shaken by the headlines that shake the world.
What do you think?
Recommended:* Confession time: sometimes, reading about refugees makes me uncomfortable. The needs are overwhelming, my ability to help feels puny, and that makes me want to look away.
Rachel Uthmann’s new guide to refugee ministry, The Faithful Innkeeper, calmed my squirm with a very News Health-y question: In the Good Samaritan parable, what if you’re not being asked to be the heroic Samaritan, but the faithful innkeeper? We don’t have to solve every crisis in the headlines, but Uthmann shows the power of saying yes to the displaced neighbors in front of us and letting Jesus be the true hero.
*I’m fortunate enough to be paid to promote products I actually use and genuinely recommend. The Faithful Innkeeper is one of them.
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