Sabbath Devotional :: In This Uncertain World
We find ourselves right now in the middle of a mystery. The assassination of General Qassem Suleimani is still fresh news. We can only speculate about the repercussions of that stunning action. There is no doubt that there will be repercussions.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the action was in response to an “imminent attack.”
“This was an intelligence-based assessment that drove this,” Pompeo told CNN. “[Soleimani] was actively planning in the region,” he said, adding the U.S. action “saved American lives.”
We aren’t privy to those intelligence sources. Congress wasn’t privy to those sources (although Senator Graham was).
Has this action lit the tiger’s tail?
Was this action something that protected American lives by thwarting bad actions by the Iraqis?
Those of us who were adults when 9/11 occurred with its agonies, destruction, and existential re-configuring of the world as we knew it, would likely have welcomed an early intervention to spare all of us – alive and dead – that horror.
Right now we don’t know the “whys” or the “whats” or the future.
Everything is volatile right now. Everyone is tense. There are no answers, and we don’t even know the right questions to ask.
Many of us may be praying like Joseph Smith did in the Liberty Jail: “O God, where art thou?”
Are we in for full-out war? A horrific revenge attack? I can’t comprehend it.
And meanwhile, we still wrestle with conflict and confusion at our borders, in our political chambers, in our health care systems, about our upcoming elections, and for the unknown impact and timing of climate change. The list goes on.
Through all the news flashes and the angst, I recall the desperation of Christ’s disciples when Jesus was about to be killed. I hear His voice penetrating the chaos in his followers’ minds and count myself among them:
“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:32-33).
“In the world ye shall have tribulation.” Yes. That’s it exactly.
“Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” What an improbable command!
We are called to mental and spiritual energies we may feel we do not possess. Here, for example, is counsel from Paul’s letter to the Philippians (4; 6–7): “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
And so I will offer my frayed and anxious spirit on the altar before my God, praying that He will transform it to understand as He does, to focus on the eternities as He does, to stop scrambling for answers to unknowns and to come better to know and love Him — where both the most important questions are welcomed and where the real Answers reside.
For supplemental thoughts on coping with adversity, here is an article by Ted Gibbons that may appeal to you.
Linda Hoffman Kimball is a founding member of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
