With this week’s article I want to share a few observations from the first week of observing the Ukrainian conflict and how we as Christians respond to such a major event.

Biblical prophecy does not address Russia and Ukraine.

Jesus’ words regarding “Wars and rumors of wars” in Matthew 24:6 were about Jerusalem’s impending destruction (accomplished in 70 AD), not about the wars of our day. The seals, beasts, bowls, and symbols of Revelation were not written about Russia, China, Putin, Xi, Biden, or any other current leader. That would have been of zero use to John’s first century audience.

A lot of people learned the hard way that those verses were not written as divine hints of the Gulf War, the Cold War, World War II, World War I, and so forth. Yet, for some reason it seems we have to re-learn that lesson with every major upheaval.

Biblical history, on the other hand, can be useful.

On the other hand, learning from history and the way God’s hand was in it does help us understand the rise and fall of nations according to God’s will. Empires that stretch themselves too thin while deteriorating at home (especially with regards to morality) always find themselves on decline shortly after. One clear result we’re seeing now is America’s influence declining in the world.

And why wouldn’t it? We are a country who has killed tens of millions of our own since 1973. We’ve seen the White House lit up in rainbow colors. We’ve seen high levels of corruption and perversion from our highest offices. Beyond that, we’ve attempted to export these “values” around the world, authorizing the display of the rainbow pride flag over our embassies and allowing US taxpayer dollars to go to abortion providers around the world. 

History – both Biblical and extra-Biblical – tells us the dominance of such a nation will rapidly decline as we’re seeing now.

We must use social media wisely.

Social media has its advantages at times like these, helping us parse through multiple streams of information, allowing us to hear from people on the ground, and giving us the opportunity to keep tabs on our brethren and find ways to support from afar. It’s good to know what to pray for, and even put some names and faces to our prayers.

But it’s also important to not get too sucked into it all. Taking daily deep dives into information (some of which has already proven unreliable), videos, and pictures regarding a war we cannot influence in any way apart from prayer is not good for us. The scenes of war are horrific, and a little goes a long way in helping us remember this.

Additionally, it’s perfectly acceptable to not voice an opinion, or (dare I say it) not even have one. We can recognize a bad situation when we see one and pray to leave it in God’s hands, and that’s more than enough. The imagined pressure to speak out, say the right phrases, and attach the profile picture badge in solidarity is little more than virtue signaling. No amount of “Putin is bad” tweets will cause him to relent. Constantly feeling like we have to do or say something via social media just isn’t good for us and isn’t helping anybody else, either.

It’s not a trite saying, but an anchoring truth: God is in control.

The problem of evil, pain, and suffering is for another article (such as this one). Suffice it to say that bad things like war happen because of the fallen world we live in. We have bombing and shooting because man is in rebellion against a good God, not because God is evil. But even in the darkness of violence and death, God is not asleep, powerless, or uncaring.

God used the Pharaoh in Exodus, Pharaoh Neco, Nebuchadnezzar, Tiberius, and plenty of other rulers of questionable morality (at best) throughout the Scriptures to accomplish His will on earth. His use of them is not akin to His approval of their behavior.

Further, He didn’t just use evil men, but also made good come of their evil actions, too. Books like Daniel show us that even in the worst scenarios, God is turning what man means for evil into His ultimate purpose, which is for the eternal good of mankind. 

Times like these make it difficult to know just how to respond. Handling the Scriptures accurately, measuring our responses, and ultimately turning our eyes back to God’s throne are the best things we can do as we await Christ’s final victory over the world’s wickedness.