Staying balanced in unbalanced times

As I write, nine days ahead of scheduled publication, we have had two mass shootings in the last 18 days, one in New York state and the other in Texas. Add in ongoing war in Ukraine, the breakdown of civil discourse in our own nation’s capital, and many other serious problems around the globe, and it looks like things are badly out of balance.

I find it helpful to view our current crises in light of the last century or so. There were two world wars in the twentieth century. I was born during the second one.

During my college years John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Since then there have been at least three attempts to assassinate an American president, two on president Gerald Ford only seventeen days apart and one nearly successful attempt on president Ronald Reagan.

The year I became a pastor both Martin Luther King, Jr. and senator (previously attorney general) Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. During that Vietnam War era, riots and politically motivated bombings were commonplace.

The point is that unbalanced times aren’t all that abnormal. Peter wrote to Christians of his own time, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12, NASB).

The world is dangerous and unpredictable. Maintaining your emotional equilibrium in times like this depends on having something solid as an anchor. I consider the creator of the universe and of life itself, who has revealed himself to us primarily through Jesus Christ and the Bible, to be the best possible anchor. Multiplied millions of others have found it so. Peace of mind cannot be bought, but it can be found in a relationship with the living God.

Pastor Dan York can be reached at Dover Community Church.