Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Philippians 4:4, NASU

One of the things I try to remember as I teach and preach and interact with people, is that we are commissioned by God to help others. That means we are to be doing our best to make things better. Yet, I continually struggle with this fact, especially when I see the troubles in this world around us. We all have the duty to warn people of the dangers we face, but by doing so we often have to point out the things that are wrong so that we will know what to address. The tricky part, as always, is the question of balance: How can we point out the problems that we must honestly address without getting dragged down by doing so, or without turning others away by the very nature of the negativity of the warning? Whats more, how can we "rejoice always" when there are so many problems to deal with?

Our first instinct is often to have a "Don't worry, be happy" attitude wherein we refuse to even acknowledge the problems. This works for a while, but eventually the consequences of ignoring the world's difficulties will catch up to us. It's like being at a party on the top of a sky scraper that has a fire smoldering in its basement. We can eat, drink and be merry for only so long before the flames make their way up and put an unpleasant end to the festivities.

On the other hand, we cannot be among the "Chicken Little's" of the world who are always shouting that the sky is falling. It is true that these heralds of doom are occasionally right, but they are so negative in their worldview that no one wants to be around to listen to their message of warning, even when they are right. So, what is the solution?

Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Matthew 25:34-36, NIV(1978)

Reading on in this text we see that the righteous will wonder when they did these wonderful things for Jesus, only to find out that whatever they did for the least of mankind, they did for Jesus. And this is the point! There are bad things in this world that we cannot ignore, but the solution is not merely to warn others, but to assist others who are going through the bad times. In other words, we are to make things better!

It's not always easy to do, and is rarely convenient, but we know from experience how it makes us feel when someone goes out of their way to help us. Just pause for a moment and think about how you view those who have helped you out of a difficult situation in the past. Don't you have a love and affection for them? Aren't you overwhelmed with wonder and appreciation at the very thought of how someone helped you when you needed it most? Aren't you much more likely to listen to such a person who has "walked the walk" when they have something to say from their heart to yours?

The fact is that this old world we live in is very, very wicked! What will you do about it? Will you just point out the problems, or will you help people with their struggles caused by these problems. What do we think are we here for? If it's just to point out the bad, I'm afraid we are some day going to find that our time here on earth was wasted. But, if we are here as clear-eyed servants of the Lord who do indeed see the problems, but who then take compassion and help those who are suffering because of them, then we will likely find on that Great Day that our life counted for something.

By all means, do not bury your head in the sand and fail to see the problems that you can help with. But then, having seen the needs that lie clearly at hand, do something to help others and make things better. Then you will be able to talk to them about the more important things, such as their eternal soul and how they might now help to make things better for others. And, one last thing: Don't forget to rejoice in the Lord. By doing so, life will become better for you and for everyone you come in contact with.

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