Do you have anything in your closet that you bought four and a half years ago? In addition to the timing of this purchase, is this something that you’ve worn nearly every day since then?
If you can identify something like that, then you’ll note that it most likely is showing signs of wear.
Language can similarly show signs of wear and tear. Overuse. And not just overuse, but blatant misuse.
When I ponder this theme, the word “unprecedented” comes to mind. Nearly every day since March of 2020, I’ve heard, and at times used the word.
Unprecedented.
A virus. Weather. Global conflicts. Politics. Violence. Injustice. Scandal. Religious decay. Abuse. Technology. And more…
Unprecedented.
Lately, it’s occurred to me that the word itself smacks of ignorance and arrogance.
Yes, I certainly acknowledge that situations and circumstances are unique, but identifying a moment as “uncharted territory” seems to elevate the significance of that event to a level it doesn’t rightly belong. It invites worry, and perhaps hysteria.
“History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NLT)
King Solomon argues with us. He pushes back against the arrogance and hopelessness of our posture. He continues…
“Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new…” (Ecclesiastes 1:10-11a, NLT)
Our headlines and newsfeeds are misinformed. The “Breaking News” that we watch, read and listen to is really a rehashing of history.
This is really important. Anything less and we are left with faith in a God who cannot really be trusted. He’s untested because He is unfamiliar with what’s going on.
But He is trustworthy, precisely because He does know and understand. He HAS seen. He HAS experienced. He HAS charted a pathway.
God does not look at His son, who is seated beside Him, and say, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming!”
Not that He’s seen electric vehicles and artificial intelligence before, but because He knows the human heart and He has, in fact, seen the rise and fall of generations and empires and kingdoms before.
God is familiar with rampant self-promotion, and willful disregard for cosmic order and authority. The building of the Tower of Babel is an ongoing construction project that we all have provided construction material for.
God is not scrambling. He’s not googling. He’s not inventing.
He knows. Then and now.
In
fact, out of the whirlwind of uncertainty and confusion, God responds, just as
He did with Job:
“Who are you to question my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself,
because I have some questions for you. Questions that beg for an answer from
you. Rhetorical questions. Not sarcastic questions, but questions that serve as
a reminder. An invitation for hope, not despair.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you know so
much.
Do you really think that anything surprises me? Do you really think that any
disease or war or politician or human advancement or crisis or catastrophe is
unprecedented?” (Job 38:2-4, NLT with some personal additions.)
Take heart. There is precedent.
Take heart. There is a chart for this current time.
Take heart. God is not wringing His hands.
Take heart. God remains where He has always remained.
Indeed, God knows.
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