None of us is given the choice of the time in which we live. We might, depending on our mobility, decide which province or state or neighborhood to live in. Some of us, with enough freedom and cash, are even able to determine in which country we reside. But time? No amount of money, mobility, determination, or hard work can change the time in which we live.

The people who lived during the time of the Pharaohs or the Babylonian Empire might have been quite pleased or distraught to be living during those times, depending on who they were. Or what about the Medieval Period? Do you think those folks who lived during the time of castles and conquerors and feudalism were thrilled or disgusted to be living then?

I wonder what conversations were like around the dinner table during the French Revolution, a relatively few years following conversations around dinner tables during the American Revolution which followed the conversations around dinner tables during the Age of Enlightenment?

Perhaps the early settlers were happy to be breaking their backs digging and hefting huge rocks from the land because it allowed them to own it. Perhaps they were glad for the tiny cabins they built with their own hands. Perhaps the howling of wolves at night was a sweet lullaby. Perhaps not.

The folks who lived during the Great Depression might have been happy and content because they lived with a family that, despite deprivation, was sound and solid. Or maybe the hobos who wandered from town to town were glad for the freedom such a life afforded. Or maybe the soldiers of WWII were satisfied in the knowledge of fighting evil, of making every effort to prevent its spread.

Or maybe all of these people found good mixed with heartache. Because that is what life offers every single person. Every. Single. One.

Now we are living in our time. Some say it’s the end times. Others disagree. Whatever it is, it is a time of immediate information which, false or true, can spread as quickly and as heatedly as a California wildfire. We live in a time when we have a better idea than, for instance, the Medieval Period, of what is going on in other countries. Not the clearest idea, mind you; but more.

In our time we are tasked with the challenge of figuring out – from the plethora of information that comes at us like a freight train on a desperate mission – which information to believe and which information to discard. Not only that, we are tasked with which information to share, which personal opinion, which reproof, and which encouragement. Who we choose to listen to infuses our belief system. What we choose to believe – for there’s no mistaking it is a choice – determines our thoughts and our actions.

On Judgement Day we will not be given a pass because life was tough or confusing or unfair. Sure, Jesus will stand beside those He saves, but we will still need to own up to our own life’s decisions. Despite some arrogant points of view, I don’t think we are any better than anyone who lived in other times. I shudder when I think that maybe we are worse. And just maybe – if time itself is winding down – we have an extra responsibility to be faithful. Whether it’s done with scrappiness or desperation or bravery or poise, we work, for the night is coming. So here’s my unsought opinion.

No matter what century or decade we live in, we are responsible for dealing the hand that’s dealt us. No matter which era, each person has a lifetime, long or short, to do the right thing. Pray for insight. Pray for wisdom. And in order to do that – to pray – we need to turn off the ceaseless voices of “information” and go to the One who actually knows what’s going on. We need to ask Him what to think and whose voice to trust. We need to read His Word and pray always because without those two disciplines all hope is lost for any sort of clarity. I suspect those who’ve gone before us did the same.

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