Apocalyptic conflicts in the Middle East, war between Ukraine and Russia threatening to escalate into World War III, climate change producing cataclysmic weather events, America splitting into violently opposed fiefdoms, pandemics, election jitters, relentless economic pressures, dissolution of families …

It’s enough to drive anyone under the covers.

‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’

Bobby McFerrin’s whimsical song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” while cheerfully entertaining, is woefully naïve.

There is plenty to worry about. The perils are real, and hiding is delusional. In today’s world, annihilation is a mere push of a button away. 

But before wasting any more of your life in ceaseless distractions or wasteful dissipation to drown out the chaos, realize that all this madness is a relatively minor part of a much bigger picture, IF you are willing to stop and look beyond it all.

New Spiritual Eyes

I was called a dreamer in school by my teachers. I was always drifting off somewhere. Not good.

Instead, dispense with daydreams and adopt a rock-solid habit that promises a new “set point” for the inner “spiritual eyes” of your mind.

Scripture instructs all Christians to train our minds in a new way of thinking, as explained in Colossians 3:1-4:

“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

It feels counter-intuitive because it asks us to ignore the in-your-face visible realm, and focus upon the far more subtle but nevertheless real, invisible realm where the real eternal “action” is happening.

The passage above reminds us of the following bedrock facts that are true of every Christian:

“Raised (up) with Christ”

If you are a born-again believer in Christ, you have been spiritually incorporated into Christ’s resurrection from the dead, having also taken part in His death on the cross.

As written in Romans 6:3-4: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.”

Also, Christ has already spiritually “seated us with Him in the heavenly places …,” as noted in Ephesians 2:6.

So all this pandemonium down on earth can’t touch us spiritually, where it counts.

“You have died”

Believer, did you know you have already died? Jesus did the dying for you.

Galatians 2:20 makes this astounding statement: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

A lovely line from one of John Starnes’ songs brings this home personally: “When He (Jesus) was on the cross, I was on His mind.”

“Your life is hidden with Christ”

Looking for a hiding place from all the chaos? Well, you’re already hidden in Christ’s arms, secured by His own promise, as written in John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they (you and me) also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

“Christ (who) is our life”

Your spiritual life is incorporated into Christ through the Holy Spirit.

According to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, you are no longer your own, but have been bought and paid for: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.”

We have Christ’s spiritual air in our lungs and His spiritual blood in our veins. He is literally OUR LIFE.

“You will be revealed with Him in glory”

Wherever Christ is — past, present and future — we are there with Him. Ephesians 3:6 says we belong to Him, and we are inseparable: “… (We) are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel …”

So, when Jesus returns to Earth in glory, we will all accompany Him back to an Earth that He will rule forever in peace and security.

How About You?

So Christian, what’s to fret about? Look beyond and live.