Farther Along

Sitting up tonight, thanks to Predizone, reflecting on a tumultuous events abroad in recent times, it occurs to me that the Middle East, and with it, the world is going to Hell in a hand basket.  No one knows what the outcomes will be concerning the chaos in the Middle East.  One thing is for sure - it will not be pretty.  What's more, it will likely produce even more instability than ever before now.  We made a bargain with the devil and the despots have kept their end of the bargain - they have mostly checked Islamic extremists in their own countries.  In doing so, they oppressed their own people to the extent that average citizens have started this movement.  The gap between rich and poor is wider than in any region.  But be sure that Radical Islam will have its day.  If average citizens make sure that these new democracies are modern and secular, the George W. Bush's vision of a democratic Islamic world will have come true, sending him surging in presidential rankings.  If the extremists in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and even Iraq follow the surge of their fellow crazies in Lebanon and Gaza, then we will surely have a bigger mess than before.  Already, gas and oil prices have shot up, and they will skyrocket if this unrest continues.

While Western Democracies struggle to catch up with the curve,  more and more it looks like we won't, we will not influence the results of these people's uprisings.  Be sure that, once ignited, the desire for freedom is ultimately unstoppable, though it might be quelled in the long run.  We are for freedom and democracy, but recently, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other radical terrorist organizations have done well and/or won elections in Lebanon and Gaza.  In the meantime we look like we support the despots at the risk of alienating even the ordinary citizens of that region, yearning to be free of oppression and to have free and fair elections for a change.

Iran is a special problem for the West.  First, they are led by a madman, and governed by a council of religious fanatics.  Second, while violently putting down his own protesters, he criticizes Libya for doing the same.  Third, he is reckless, predicting the end of times by 2012, provoking Israel, and tweaking the collective nose of the western powers.  In other words, Iran is intent on capitalizing on these events to meet their vision for Islamic Republics all across the region, influenced of course, by Iran.  They seem intent on provoking a confrontation with the West.  If that happens, it will be Katy Bar the Door. 

My Bible tells me that these things will happen.  Despite all the doom and gloom, I still believe that things will work as they are supposed to to accomplish God's own purposes in his own time.  That said, I pray for wisdom and vision for world leaders, including our own.  None of this excuses any of us from doing all we can to make the world a place of peace and justice for all people.  I believe that the outcome is already decided, and that our understanding of it all will at another time.  In the words of an old and wonderful hymn, "Farther along, we'll know all about.  Farther along we'll understand why.  Cheer up, my brother, and live in the sunshine.  We'll understand it all bye and bye."