How to view this messy world. . . .

We listen and watch the folly happening in the world and are dismayed, yet if I can keep my mind on the wonder of God, it is easier to not be bothered by it all. For one thing, those who strive for more money than even a large family could ever spend in their lifetime, fail to think about that last word — lifetime. What benefit is billions or power when someone turns to dust in his grave? What does it do for someone to spurn God for their own will to be done? What does  God think of all this:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (Psalm 2:1–4)

Those who mock God are mocked by God, forgetting or neglecting to know that He numbers the stars, even named them. Piper offers these statistics:

“The earth. . . .  is a small planet revolving around a star called the sun which has a volume 1.3 million times that of the earth. There are stars a million times brighter than the sun. There are about a hundred billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is one hundred thousand light years across. (A light year is six million million miles.) The sun travels about 155 miles per second, and so it would take two hundred million years to make a single revolution on its orbit in the Milky Way. There are millions of other galaxies besides ours.”

And God placed them there and rules their orbits. Every detail of creation is subject to the law of God and to His commands. What do a few mere humans think when they grab for power? This God can rob them of their breath in an instant. While they delight in the chaos they create, God laughs.

Another psalm mocks the idea that “those with the most toys wins.” I deliberately left out part of this bumper sticker folly, for the Word of God says most clearly what happens to them:

Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:5–12)

No matter how much money is made legitimately, or by robbing a bank, or by insider trading, or by any other method, that money is useless to those who gained it for greed. The righeous can escape guilt in being generous to the poor, but both good and bad, no rich man can escape the consequences of being a mere human.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23–24) Is this not because those who are rich tend to suppose that they can get what they want because their wealth proves that God is blessing them — which is totally opposed to what the gospel says. We are saved by grace, never our financial or worldly status.

Jesus also tells such who seek wealth: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” (Luke 6:24) Money may get them all it will buy, but that is all they will get. Not only that, hoarding it for themselves is folly because, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9) There is more…

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. (James 5:1–2)
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17)

PRAY: Lord, You tell me to pray for people who are “in high positions” and have influence that can ruin lives. They need wisdom and mercy more than being eliminated. With confidence, I just pray that Your will is done — for them and for those who suffer because of the chaos being created by their priority in gods that have no power over the stars.