Wars and Rumors of Wars

By Robin G. Jordan

We have one more day left in 2010 and then 2011 begins. In the next 24 hours the events of the past year will be reviewed, and predictions and resolutions for the New Year will be made.

As far as bewailing the low points of the past year, I do not see what it accomplishes. Where mistakes were made, I can only hope that we have learned from them and will not repeat them.

As for celebrating the high points of the past year, I honestly cannot think of anything that I want to celebrate beyond the safe delivery of babies, the rescue of trapped miners, the recovery of the desperately ill, and that sort of thing. We should always take time to offer thanks to God for his providential care.

As far as making prognostications about the future, the practice of divination is prohibited in the Bible. Consulting the stars, spirits, or entrails is out. At most we can do is to discern trends and to consider where they may lead. This entails the use of logic and not the use of any form of divination. If A happens and B happens, then C is likely to happen. Of course, we may overlook a variable, and D or even E may happen. Human beings can be very predictable. They also can be very unpredictable.

A number of things we can definitely expect to happen in the New Year. They include war, and rumors of war, earthquakes floods, mudslides, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disaster and outbreaks of famine and disease. They are a part of the world in which we live. The question is not whether they will happen but where and how severe they will be and how effective we will be in responding to them. Human misery is something that will always be with us but that is no excuse for callousness and indifference to human suffering.

As for making New Year’s resolutions, I do not make New Year’s resolutions and I advise my readers not to make them. As Jesus said, let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no. If you have set your mind on doing good, do it. Do not “resolve” to do it. Just do it.