Understanding the times

I recently flew back to Alabama to be with my daughter for her very first women’s retreat that her church was hosting. It was a beautiful weekend and God truly blessed. On Saturday evening I recieved a text that Israel had been brutally attacked and that all out war was declared. My heart sank! Since arriving back home I’ve watched the news clips and have been in prayer for all of those suffering by the seemingly senseless evil.

Here in America we have all witnessed a rapid and radical shift morally and spiritually since 2020! Yes it’s been building over the last century it didn’t just happen overnight. But in my lifetime I’ve never witnessed what I’m seeing now with such a fevered pitch. Over the last almost four years we are bombarded daily with an unapoligetic ideology working with relentless fortitude to deconstruct right and wrong. With the war raging in Israel and trying to make sense of that and America on the brink of imploding because we have sold our souls to the spirit of the age, how should the church respond?

I recently heard someone quote a verse that I believe is so appropriate for the times. It got me thinking and so I sat with that verse for a long while wanting to know its implications and application for myself and God willing those who might read this post.

 1Chronicles 12:32 reads, Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command. 

Before we jump on one verse, let’s understand the context. Circumstances were changing as David was about to be crowned King of Israel. Saul was dead and the Benjamites had other ideas about the successor to the throne. But the other tribes were in favor of David as their king, and they had met in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him. It was a tense time in Israel, and there was a need for great wisdom to discern those times. It’s here that the children of Issachar stepped up knowing what need to be done and how to do it.

The word understanding that we read in our text means to have insight or to act with prudence. The sons of Issachar had analyzed their times and had perceived correctly what those times were all about. From among the twelve tribes of Israel the sons of Issachar discerned what God was doing. In this case, David was God’s anointed to be the king in Israel.

Friends, scripture reveals again and again how God’s people are prone to be blind to what God is doing or about to do. The significance of how God is bringing fulfillment to His redemptive purpose is a subject of vital importance for every disciple. Jesus warned His followers repeatedly of the need to discern the day the hour and the times in which we live.

I’m amazed at how much time we give to social media and it’s influencers to guide us in trying to make sense of what’s happening in our world. The church is looking everywhere but up! We have replaced the word of God with our go to influencers to anesthetize us for another day. And yet, the rate of anxiety and uncertainty among God’s people is spreading far and wide.

Our daily lives are noisy and chaotic—filled with too much information and too little wisdom. Let’s step away from our amusements, settle down with the word of God, and seek the discernment that only God’s truth will give us to understand the times and live faithfully until His return.