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I am constantly reflecting on the state of the world—international relations, geopolitics, justice, culture, the history of ideas, theology, and philosophy. Often, I wonder what it would be like if my daily concerns were instead trivial: what shoes to wear, which party to attend, what selfie to post, or what outfit to buy. I fear I may never know that life. Instead, I find myself preoccupied with the bigger questions.

As believers, we are called to cast our cares on God because He cares for us. Yet we are also called to think God’s thoughts after Him, which includes caring about what He cares about. Each night, alongside prayers for friends and family, I pray about world events, politics, and culture. I ask questions, seek understanding, and often grieve over injustice. No wonder some people prefer to focus on the next frappuccino rather than the brokenness of the world.

Human Suffering and Historical Injustice

Human suffering and injustice occupy much of my thoughts and prayers. I often wonder how so much evil occurs and why God allows it. I was born during the Cold War, and for the first 36 years of my life, the world lived under the spectre of godless communism.

After becoming a Christian at 18, I rejected my youthful fascination with Marxism and adopted a more conservative outlook. I worried and prayed for those trapped under the hellish regimes of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Like many, I rejoiced when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Yet for 72 years, entire generations suffered under Soviet communism. Today, my prayers extend to those living under the oppression of North Korea, Communist China, and many Muslim-majority nations. I ask God: “Why?” and “How long?”

Reflections from History and Literature

While browsing my books recently, I came across The Theme is Freedom by M. Stanton Evans (Regnery, 1994). The book examines liberty in America and the West, noting the collapse of communism:

“We who survive into the final years of the twentieth century have witnessed an astounding moment in the biography of the human race: The collapse of communism’s despotic rule in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union… Myriad states and subject peoples that suffered the yoke of Soviet bondage have been given a chance to breathe the air of freedom.” (p. 3)

Evans emphasises that liberty is ultimately grounded in religion—specifically Christianity. Christopher Dawson is quoted:

“Without Christianity, there would no doubt have been some kind of civilization in the West, but it would have been quite a different civilization from that which we know: for it was only as Christendom—the society of Christian peoples—that the tribes and peoples and nations of the West acquired a common consciousness and a sense of cultural and spiritual unity.” (p. 28)

This truth reminds us that freedom is fragile and intertwined with moral and spiritual foundations.

Another volume, Hearing the Message of Daniel: Sustaining Faith in Today’s World by Christopher Wright (Zondervan, 2017), shows that the questions we wrestle with are not new. Daniel and his friends faced captivity in a pagan land, questioning God’s justice and wondering how His people should live under oppressive rulers. Wright observes:

“Daniel 4 and 5 leave us with an unanswered question regarding the dealings of God in human history… Why humble the one into repentance, grace, and restoration, but humiliate the other with merely a few hours’ notice of his doom and destruction?” (pp. 122-123)

Daniel navigated these challenges by combining persistent prayer with faithful service in government. He delivered warnings and prophecies appropriate to each situation, guided by discernment and God’s word. Wright concludes that we can emulate Daniel by maintaining a life of constant prayer and bold faith, even under hostile or indifferent governments.

Application for Today

We face similar questions today. Christians across the political spectrum may wonder why God allows particular leaders or governments to rise or fall. I live in Melbourne, often questioning why repeated poor governance causes widespread suffering. Yet history reminds us that all tyrannies and injustices eventually end. The Soviet regime lasted 72 years, the Nazis a dozen. Our world may seem hellish under brutal states, but they ultimately fall.

Prayer is part of this process. During the 1980s, while the USSR and Eastern bloc were firmly under communist control, I participated in a YWAM outreach to Ukraine and Russia with about 40 other young people. Though most of us did not speak Russian and were constantly monitored by a KGB ‘tourist guide’, we prayed and worshipped publicly where possible. By the decade’s end, the Soviet system collapsed. We cannot measure how much our prayers contributed, but it is humbling to imagine they played a small part in God’s unfolding plan.

The lesson is clear: trusting God and committing to prayer are central to navigating turbulent and traumatic times. Like Daniel, we are called to act faithfully in our roles, pray persistently, and boldly proclaim truth in the face of injustice. God reigns over every authority, and our prayers, combined with His sovereignty, participate in shaping history in ways we may never fully comprehend.

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Republished with thanks to CultureWatch. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.