Conspiracy

Conspiracies...almost daily a new one pops up. Covid-19: naturally occurring virus, or government funded conspiracy? Cash shortage: real, or conspiracy to permanently move to a cashless society? Black Lives Matter: social-justice organization, or pawn of intellectual elites conspiring to destroy America? What's up with China's 'Safe Cities' product?* And what about the UN? Rumors are everywhere and we can wear ourselves out trying to get the right intel so that we can decide where to stand, what to think, what to say, what to believe.

So let's get right to the point--yes, it's all a conspiracy...of course it is. The devil lost his bid to be god of this planet and has been conspiring to take over ever since. From the beginning we have been hated, lied to, warred and conspired against. Beloved, there are sides here. Choosing one over the other has consequences. You were not saved for membership in the First Church of the Undisturbed, you were inducted into a kingdom at war.  When we chose God we chose to become the enemy of His enemy. Ever since the Garden, the forces opposed to God have conspired to destroy what He loves.

The Bible is full of conspiracy stories because the stories are about people, and people have proven to be willing to do anything to get what they want. Generals conspired against Kings. Kings conspired against other kings. Political leaders conspired against Daniel, and against Mordecai and Esther. Religious leaders conspired to kill Jesus. For those so wired, pandemics and social upheaval are not tragedies, but opportunities to advance an agenda. While we complain about masks and statues people who believe they are better qualified to control our lives than we are, are quietly leveraging this crisis into remaking the world order. On the United Nations own website it says Covid-19 is an opportunity to "steer the world" towards its goal of a one world utopia.** Go to the site. Look at it yourself.

So we are clearly in a battle, but not against our government or competing experts. Our enemy is neither another race, nor another political party, nor the police (or even the U.N.). We are being provoked to rail against the system, but a better system is still just a human system. We have a real but unseen enemy who knows his time is short. He is working overtime to keep us fearful, angry, and against each other. He wants us running after causes, running after information, running so hard and so fast that we don't have time to think or pray. He wants us running in terror or rage down any path except the one that leads to God.

Don't fall for it! Take a breath. Take several. Step back. Good information is important, but in this battle information has been weaponized so we must have discernment. Definitely get information, but look at sources yourself rather than accept what others have concluded. Pray. Decide for yourself whether something is accurate. Ask our Father for revelation about the big picture. Our enemy uses physical agents to do his work but he is not physical. So our remedy must be spiritual too, truth from an unimpeachable Source, direction from the One who knows where we're going.

Let's remember that Covid-19, race relations, and civil liberties, though important, are subplots in a very big story. The Earth is not an experiment gone wrong, or a machine left unattended. God has been letting us, like petulant toddlers "do it ourselves." He has given us millennia to improve things without Him, but we have not made the world better, we've simply found more efficient means to hate our brother. God is not silent, absent or uncaring, just waiting for us to recognize our deep need and call on Him.

There is a remedy but it won't come through a new President, or a vaccine or better policemen. This shaking has revealed the futility of only seeking human solutions to problems that God alone can solve. We have information yet are not wise. We have leisure but are not free. We have money but are not rich. More programs, marches, food drives, masks and vaccines are band aids; what is needed is soul surgery by the Great Physician. God does care about the unrest and the fear and the anger and has the answer for the cry of the human heart.

The gospel of the kingdom has never been more important, nor Jesus's identity as Savior of the World more timely. God is calling us to carry His message to a world desperate for deliverance. But it's difficult to carry something when my hands are already full. So for saints as well as sinners the way forward goes right through the Cross. This season has caused me to question what I'm leaning on. Am I navigating through life using social approval as my compass? Am I trusting my civil rights to keep me safe? Do I love my stuff, my opinion, and my routine more than God? I want to take this moment to assess my focus. I want to empty my storehouse of the tarnished dime-store trinkets I thought so important, and wait for God to fill me with real, lasting treasure. Treasure He can multiply and I can carry to those around me.

Oh my friends, let's take time to seek the Lord! We need God; we need His perspective; we need His presence and power; we need His heart for the nations. Conspiracies do not confuse or confound Him. He has the information we need, plus the perspective to give it meaning. His love for us is fierce and unrelenting as well as tender and inexhaustible. He has the map for where we are going. We can trust His wisdom and His plan.

Do not be afraid. Seek His face. Get fresh oil. Maranatha!

                                    

______________ For more information go to:

*https://www.csis.org/analysis/watching-huaweis-safe-cities  More than 50 nations already use this product.

**https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ What is the "Decade of Action"?  What is "Agenda 2030"?