The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden in Gen.3 is a powerful statement from God. One of the fundamental elements of God’s revelation is that He will hold every man accountable for his/her life. And as we are living in a world that distances itself farther and farther from God, we are reaping the consequences. If you knew that you would stand before God and be judged by His will at the end of this day, would it change your behavior, your attitude, your priorities, your heart? I affirm that it would. The problem is a dismissal of God, and therefore a dismissal of judgment. Certainly such issues contribute to unrest and difficulty. The problem in our country, and the problem in every country, and the problem in every generation has nothing to do with politics or economics or health or race. Thus, the solution is often, “change the regime…change the people in the regime…change the past…and everything will be OK.” Or… “keep the regime…keep the people in the regime…affirm the past…and everything will be OK.” Funny that we try that in this country every four to eight years and things don’t change much. Social media, and education, have made experts out of everyone, and there is a daily identification of “the problem.” You know – “The problem is……” And the closest thing there is to consensus in our day is that the problem is political (which includes the present regime, the regime immediately preceding the present, or some regime in the past that is responsible for all of our present issues). There are many pundits presently who have determined the reasons for the circumstances of the day.
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I have no doubt that history is full of similar “distresses”, but it’s been a generation or so since we’ve experienced such in this country. How many more elements could be added to this list? I cannot recall in my lifetime such a period of polarization, stress, vitriol, anxiety, and dissension. Economic challenges, resulting both from the pandemic and from evolving economic philosophies.
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Explosive, and sometimes violent, racial unrest. A cultural shift away from godliness and morality. I suspect most spiritually inclined people would have little difficulty identifying the “present distress” of our day. Boy howdy, can we use some of that wisdom today. What is clear is that an inspired man is offering an opinion to God’s people that he deemed wise in consideration of the events going on in the world at that time. I’m uncertain as to the exact nature of that circumstance (though many suppose it involved some kind of persecution).
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In 1 Cor.7:26, Paul offers a judgment about marriage that is rooted in “ the present distress”.