Why Go Back to Normal?

For a few days in September, life stood still. We were glued to our TV sets, watching the nightmarish scene unfold in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Worshipers crowded into churches for prayer. Donors gave money and blood to those in need.

Then things began to return to normal. The NFL played again on Sunday. Trading resumed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. TV networks aired their fall premiers. Schools went back into session. We felt relieved because things were returning to normal.

Yet, somehow we know that things will never be the same again. The terrorist attack rocked not only New York, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania; it shook the world. Max Lucado pointed out, "This is a different country. . . . We're not as self-centered as we were. We're not as self-reliant as we were. Hands are out. Knees are bent. This is not normal. And I have to ask the question, 'Do we want to go back to normal'?"

Good question. If normal means taking our country for granted instead of thanking God for our blessings, I don't want to go back to normal.

If normal means joking about our president far more than we pray for him, then I don't want to go back.

If it means bowing at the altar of prosperity and pleasure instead of finding contentment in our faith, our families, and our friends, then I'd rather not be normal.

If normal means packed sports stadiums but half-empty churches, billboards along the highway that are crude and suggestive instead of patriotic and inspiring, and people shuffling their feet impatiently and refusing to sing when the National Anthem is played, I don't want to go back.

If it means dragging ourselves off to church expecting to be bored instead of blessed, and professing to believe in God but acting like he doesn't exist, I don't want to go back to normalcy.

If normal means being stingy instead of generous, concerned about ourselves rather than caring about others, and taking life and liberty for granted, then I don't want to be normal ever again.

One challenge of publishing a weekly magazine like The Lookout is the time lag we face when responding to current events. Between the time I write this column and the time you read it, while our articles are edited, printed, and mailed, a lot can change in our fast-paced world. The Bible is always timely and relevant. It's "God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). We plan and produce The Lookout with confidence that God's Word is practical and will always meet our readers' needs. Yet in these days when history is unfolding so quickly, I find myself feeling frustrated and wishing, If only we knew what the future holds, we could anticipate and address current events in more detail.

Come to think of it, though, all of us have the same problem. None of us know what the future holds. Instead of trying to forecast what we cannot foresee, we should heed the wisdom of Proverbs 3:5, 6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." You and I hold a magazine in our hands, but God holds the whole world in his. That's why trusting him shouldn't be unusual, but simply the normal thing to do.