It may seem hard to believe, but I used to work in security. Many years ago while doing my undergraduate work I took a campus security job to help pay the bills. I would do walk-throughs of buildings, making sure doors were locked and lights were off. I would go around and write tickets for those who were parked illegally. It was mostly uneventful, but there were occasions when I’d be called on to help with some very unique problems. One such problem that arose during my time “on the force” was the aftermath of a particular college prank. As there are always a few college kids who seem to stay up at night to find innovative ways to cause havoc, on this particular occasion there were some who thought it would be funny to sneak out to the parking lot in the middle of the night and remove the license plates from every vehicle. When the campus awoke the next morning, there was a pile of hundreds of license plates on the lawn at the center of campus and a parking lot full of vehicles that were no longer licensed for legal highway use. What a mess. It turns out that most college kids (and probably most adults) don’t remember their license plate numbers and wouldn’t recognize anything about their plate except the state where it was issued. Needless to say, it took quite a while for campus security to identify the owners of each plate and then assist them in re-attaching them to their cars.

With enough patience, persistence, and hard work, many messes can be sorted out. But there are many times in life where the mess is just too “messy”. Our world is a mess. Russia continues to attack Ukraine and the alignment of world powers seems to be riding a tilt-a-whirl right now. The state of our economy is a mess. Inflation is soaring, prices are up, stocks are down, and the cost of normal, everyday things is pinching most households financially. Our social and educational systems are a mess. Political correctness, common core curriculum, the general acceptance and promotion of unbiblical values, and the newfound blindness as to the meaning of gender is crippling our society. On a more personal level, our homes are a mess. The wrecking ball of divorce has left the majority of homes broken, the stupor caused by screen addiction has put a generation of people on mental ice, the rat race of two-income households has often resulted in “latch-key” kids, and the lack of positive male (and female) role models has produced a grand scale disillusionment.

Now I know that I’ve painted a bleak picture, but I believe that this is what most conservative, rational, Christians already know but aren’t always able to verbalize. We have a mess here and have been lamenting over the fact that it is too big to sort out and clean up. There are things we can do (and are called to do) such as being “salt and light” and being faithful in the God-given responsibilities which have been given to us as individuals. However, when you step back and look at the big picture, the mess is too great for us to clean up. There is some good news and bad news about the mess we are facing.

First, the mess is only going to get worse. Paul warned Timothy about this in the first century when he said, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Jesus warned us that “ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. After the rapture” (Matthew 24:6). Because this mess is what the Bible tells us to expect, we shouldn’t be fretting over it. While we know things aren’t right, we can be assured that they are normal (for now).

Second, the mess is going to get better. In fact, it’s all going get sorted out perfectly. World politics and power struggles will be resolved. Economic crises will be eradicated. Broken homes will be restored and our cultural values will align with God’s Word once again when Jesus Christ returns. Scripture is full of these assurances. Isaiah tells us, “Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed” (Isaiah 66:5). Jesus Christ will one day defeat the powers of this earth, establish His throne, and every knee shall worship Him alone. He will finally clean up this mess.

Until that day comes, we look forward to His coming and the assurance that the mess isn’t permanent. John tells us to “abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28). In other words, we won’t be able to solve the problems of this world. We can’t sort everything out or be successful at cleaning up this mess, but we continue to worship the one who will – Jesus Christ.