What did you dream of becoming when you were a child? 

My answer may surprise you. I dreamed of becoming the President of the United States. Even at a young age I wanted my life to be important. Serving as the president seemed the best way.

While I no longer entertain thoughts of the presidency, I still want to make my life count. I believe we all feel this pull at times. 

God created us with the longing of eternity in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Wanting to leave our mark on the world is part of our spiritual DNA. Wouldn’t we all like to know our lives made this world a better place?

Certainly the world needs improvement. I recently asked people what ONE word they would use to describe the world. From the responses, I created the following word cloud:

Many of the participants cited words like chaos, confused, corrupted, divided, and messy. Only two responses surprised me- and I’m grateful for the souls who still see the world as blessed and healing. But most of us see the world in a far less favorable state. 

I wonder… When God looks at our world, what does He see? What ONE word would He use to describe it?

 

 

In the gospel of John we begin to find the answer:

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17 NIV)

Nothing surprises God. He knew how our world would look in 2021. Yet He didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world. He didn’t need to. As I read through our descriptions, our world already stands condemned. 

So God sent Jesus to save our world. Because somehow He loves this fallen, messy and chaotic world. Maybe because He looks at it differently. 

Maybe God, like some of the people who responded to my question, sees the world filled with people who are lost. Maybe He would describe the world as harassed, helpless, or shepherdless. (Matthew 9:36) 

I still want my life to create positive change in this world. But when I look at the world as a collective state, I can easily feel overwhelmed by the darkness of it. I don’t have any easy answers to calm the chaos, correct the corruption, or clean the mess. 

But when I change my perspective by looking through the lens of Jesus, I see the world as individuals in need of a Savior. And for that God has given me the answer:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NIV)

As Christians we’ve been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. Sometimes it feels counterintuitive to expect world change by sharing the gospel message with individuals. Yet the world is made up of individuals. Each time one person changes, the world changes-although the change may not be immediately noticeable. 

A quote attributed to Helen Keller helps me see my role in a different light: 

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

By trusting in God’s plan, I believe we can change the world-one soul at a time. 

As I continue on my journey, I pray I can help reunite hurting individuals to the One who will lead them home. Wherever the road leads you, I pray you can do the same.