Understanding of The Times

Knowing what to do can give an edge to any kind of challenges and problems that life may bring forth, but not knowing what to do can lead us to enormous trouble and unfavourable situations in life. There is an interesting example of this in the Bible about the Israelites as recorded in the book of I Chronicles. After the death of King Saul, the Benjamites considered a successor to the throne from its own tribe but the other tribes were not in favour. It was a time of topsy-turvy and a tense moment in Israel. And there was a great need of wisdom to discern those times. But the sons of the tribe of Issachar had a special understanding and knew exactly what the Israelites should do (I Chronicles 12:32). They knew King Saul had not been a good king and had not established any good reason to keep kingship in the tribe of Benjamin. The sons of Issachar were able to correctly perceive and recognise the anointed one. Consequently, David was chosen to be the new king of Israel, by virtue of his ability and character. He was the type of King Israel needed during those turbulent times and was eventually crowned as the new king of the Israel at Hebron.

As we contextualise the above story of the Israelites and relate in our times today, a similar question of the need to understand our time arises. And the pertinent question that confronts us today is; do we understand our times like the sons of the tribe of Issachar? Are we able to correctly perceive the things happening around us? Do we have a leader today, who can perceive things correctly or do we need a leader who can perceive things correctly and lead the people to right direction? If we look at the present situation of our times, there is so much chaos and uncertainties, particularly the untold suffering inflicted by the present pandemic and still looming large as human knowledge failed to fathom the exact treatment of the disease. The knowledge of science and technology has never appeared so helpless in the eyes of suffering as it appears today. We wake to all kinds of horrific news every morning, from mismanagement to unpreparedness -and all kinds of unfair treatment meted out to the people who are suffering but interestingly nobody wants to take the blame for the mess, rather many of our leaders are busy engaging in the blame game.  

In such a time like this, the need to understand the times becomes all the more important. Understanding the battle against any suffering and the ability to discern the best contemporary means to solve the crisis has always been a challenge for every age. And this is not an exception to the crisis of the on-going pandemic. I think a serious reflection is a must as believer(s) and the church at large. May we truly seek the divine wisdom to understand the present times like the sons of the Issachar who had the understanding of their times, and overcome from the present pandemic which have brought tears to the homes of millions and untold sufferings across the globe.

Dr. Wungnaongam Pou