Article November 5, 2007 Issue

AT RISK—OR UNDER GOD'S WING?

BY JEREMY CARPER

FOR YEARS I worked and lived in countries dominated by state-owned enterprises where individual initiative was often squashed and poverty was rampant. Fear, outright crime and danger, as well as disease, were endless conditions of everyday life. Yet, I was convinced that living at risk wasn't the natural state of humankind. it's simply not what God, who Jesus taught is entirely good, has in mind for us (see Mark 10:18).

People everywhere deserve to realize this vision of risk-free living under the care of the Almighty. Yet the majority of the populations in the countries where my family and I lived, seemed to have no escape from the risks they faced. In most of these countries, it was considered a success when a parent earned enough for food from one day to the next. Many felt at risk just walking out of the house. Individuals who could afford it hired guards to keep their homes safe at night. Still, break-ins were a common occurrence, as were carjackings. In some areas, quick and violent police surveillance to quell political dissent was ongoing.

Faced with such a bleak picture of human existence, how was I able to maintain an expectation of life as peaceful and good? The Bible tells us that God made man in His own image and likeness, declaring everything that He, God, had made to be good (see Gen., chap. 1). I love to think of God's goodness radiantly filling all space. To me, that's the kingdom of heaven.