As President Putin plots the violent overthrow of Ukraine, the world watches on with horror. Each of us will have been affected in different ways by what we have seen reported on the news each day, but most will have experienced a mix of anger, frustration, injustice and fear.
As I have reflected on the week’s events, and on my own reactions to them, I have found myself alternatively prepared, provoked, challenged and comforted.
Prepared
No Christian should feel surprised by the outbreak of war between nations. Jesus himself warned that in the era between his first and second comings, “6 you will hear of wars and threats of wars”. His instruction was: “don’t panic”. He continued, “Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” (Matthew 24).
We are prepared as Christians to expect this, and to understand that somehow the evil purposes of men such as Vladimir Putin are part of the dark and Satanic tapestry of human history, prior to the return of Jesus.
Provoked
Being prepared for the possibility of war, does not mean that we are not provoked when it happens. But provoked to what? Some Christians may decide that it is right to ‘fight fire with fire’ and join the armed conflict. Others take Jesus at face value when he commanded his followers to love their enemies, and choose to take a pacifist route. The risk for the ‘fighters’ is that their response simply perpetuates the wrong-doing: the risk for the pacifist is that they simply do nothing in the face of evil.
At the very least I think we should be provoked to join whatever protests we can against this injustice, and we should certainly be provoked to pray. Pray for world leaders as they seek a path that leads to peace (1 Timothy 2:2). Pray for the innocent people caught up in this. Pray that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Let the provocation that we feel at very least cause us to protest loudly and pray earnestly.
Challenged
I have been aware that this war has impacted me in a stronger way than other conflicts that have taken place in my lifetime. I feel much more threatened by a conflict on the doorstep of my own continent, than I have done by wars in Syria, Yemen or Angola (to name just three conflicts that have happened during my lifetime). Why is that? Probably because the prospect of this war coming to my own doorstep feels a stronger possibility than is the case for other wars.
To be honest I feel slightly ashamed by my self-interest and my ability to react, only when my own security is threatened. I need to work that challenge through with God.
Comforted
In December 2020 I wrote some notes for Scripture Union’s Daily Bread publication. The lead-in time is such that they have only just appeared in this last week. The reading for the day that war broke out was Revelation 4. You might recall that before we get to the catastrophes described in the coming chapters (war, famine, disease), the Apostle John is invited into a vision of heaven. The first things he sees is a great throne with a glorious apparition of God on it. Here is an extract from the note that I wrote, and which was read by Daily Bread users on the day war broke out in Ukraine:
This whole chapter is designed to cement God’s sovereignty into our consciousness. Shouts of praise constantly echo around the throne room (v8, v11) as all of creation (symbolized by the four fantastic creatures in vs 6,7) and all his people (the 24 elders are symbolic figureheads of God’s people in every age – twelve Old Testament patriarchs and Twelve Apostles) worship him.
One can only imagine the effect this vision must have had on the embattled Christians who first heard it read in the context of their hardships and suffering. Despite all appearances, when they paused to look up, God was still supreme.
Our comfort when faced with the evils that humans inflict on one another, is that above it all – and still somehow in charge of where the world is headed – is God, still on history’s throne.
So, I need to accept that this war, like all others, are a manifestation of the evil that stalks the earth: Jesus said that it would ever be thus. But I need to protest in whatever ways I can and pray earnestly for peace to come. Above all I need to keep looking up, to draw comfort from God’s sovereignty and his promises for the coming new world order, where “there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:4)