Finding Peace in a Darkening World
By Elizabeth Prata
In a reflective essay, I express sorrow over recent deaths and societal evils while finding peace and joy through faith in the Lord. I emphasize the Bible as a guiding manual for life and salvation, offering hope amidst darkness and urging readers to look to Jesus for comfort and understanding.
What a week this has been! What a sorrowful past few months. John MacArthur passed away, James Dobson too, the Catholic School shooting, the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, and of course, the assassination of Conservative and Christian Charlie Kirk.
It was a shocking few weeks and made more so by the reality of social media and the immediacy of seeing it happen live, and then seeing it circulated around the world in real time.
The world convulsed at the latest blatant evil of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And convulsed in disgust again when so many little antichrists celebrated and applauded Kirk’s killing, which left behind two small children and a widow.
What is encouraging about all that? Why am I peaceful in the midst of horror and evil and death? Why do I have joy in the midst of the shadows encroaching on a rapidly darkening world?
Because of the gifts of the Lord.
I was 41 before the Lord’s grace and mercy captured me and gave me faith to repent. Before that moment, I had searched actively and persistently for answers to the big questions. They bothered me. Why are people so awful? Why are there Hitlers? Why are the Jews hated? Why is Israel always at war with aggressors? Why do we only live 70 or 80 years then die? Is there life after death? Do we go to heaven? Who gets to go?
I seriously wondered about these things and it was a torment not to know the answers, especially to this one: WHAT IS THE POINT OF LIFE?!
Then grace came and I saw my sin and the sin problem we all have. I was devastated by my own evil and the evil all around me I now saw. Literally the scales fell from my eyes. But I was also energized, relieved, and joyful. The BIBLE has the answers. The Author of this magnificent book wrote it all down and gave it to us. It is the manual to life on earth and to eternal life. It offers a relationship with its main character, Jesus. And this Author, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Creator of all, Transcendent and Self-Existent Living God, gives us access to Him!
Through His word in the Bible and through prayer and through other Spirit-filled Christians, we can KNOW. We know why things are the way they are. We know why we sin. We have the Spirit’s help to resist sin, the world, and the evil one. We have a hope and a destiny. We are His co-heirs!
You know, of all 66 books in the Bible and all 1,189 chapters, only 4 chapters in 2 books do not mention sin. Genesis 1-2, and Revelation 21-22. The entire rest of the Bible deals with sin, our problem of sin, and the remedy for sin. The only remedy is Jesus.
Romans 1:18-32 describes what happens to any society and individual who persistently rejects His gospel. Genesis 3 describes how sin came into our lives. Romans 3 shows us the problem and the solution to unrighteousness. Revelation 6 onward shows in graphic detail the reality of spiritual warfare and the horror of God’s anger and punishment for it.
James tells us what happens to us when we give in to our lusts and passions. Ephesians tells us how important it is to raise our children right. And so on and so on. It’s all in there! What a joy knowing we can turn to the Bible and see in tis pages wisdom, comfort, prophetic promises.
Aren’t you joyful knowing that we know the solution? Aren’t you peaceful knowing that no matter the world’s or our individual circumstances, we have peace and a hope and a future?
I created the collage below 20 years ago. It’s my representation of a world in chaos and turmoil, while the woman in the middle of it sips tea calmly. It was a sort of mood board, a personal hope that when the world was obviously in the state the collage depicts, that I would by then have grown in Christ enough to find peace, joy, and comfort in Christ to be calm (but not unemotional) about what is happening around me. I was thinking of how Paul and Silas in chains sang in prison.
What a comfort to read the facts and realities in His word and what a grace that He gave us a mind to understand them. It’s all in His word! As the world darkens what a contrast it will be when we reach heaven’s light! When we are free in total from sin and its evil effects.
Listen to this simply profound song by Dallas Holm. Put it on repeat. Really hear the lyrics. You have peace. You have hope. You have faith. You have joy. You possess these things. Look, I know how sad things are now. I cried over it all then cried again. Then I decided to look in His word. Look to Jesus.
This verse was enough to convert Charles Spurgeon. It is enough to relieve you and me of worry and fear,
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22, KJV).
Look, LOOK to Jesus.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Our Nation’s Descent into Depravity (sermon)
What’s happening in our country? How did we get to this point? What’s the cause of our nation’s descent into depravity?
The reality of God’s wrath (sermon)
The truth is, a biblically accurate understanding of God’s righteous wrath can only increase our appreciation for His tremendous grace. Understanding the depth of our spiritual needs and the punishment due for our sinful rebellion enriches our understanding of the full majesty of His grace to us.
When God abandons a nation (sermon)
This section is about the wrath of God. Admittedly not a popular subject, certainly not a popular subject in the world and not even a very popular subject in the church. But an absolutely critical and central subject to any understanding of the gospel, the wrath of God.
Has America’s point of no return been reached? (blog essay)
Did you know that when an individual is so hardened to the truth, He gives them over to it? There IS a point of no return…
