A friend posted this on Twitter: “When will all this crazy stuff stop?”

He was referring to the 10 deaths and 15 injuries that resulted when a man drove over pedestrians in Toronto. But the backdrop includes the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. And the shooting in Nashville.

In the midst of this, I think there are big reasons for hope in our world—like how communities can band together; like how women are treated more equally than they used to be; like how medicine reaches places it didn’t before.

But even still, it seems easy to find reasons for despair. The original version of this devotional included a list of examples ranging from misguided government policies to the rise of human trafficking. But I had to take it out because I exceeded my word limit!

So, back to my friend’s question: When will all this crazy stuff stop?

The short answer is when Jesus returns.

But until then, I believe it’s important to use our voices and actions to advocate for a better, more hopeful world.

Everything in our society is not hunky-dory. And I refuse to pretend it is. Sin continues to run rampant even though it is sometimes re-dressed by communication pundits to be admirable.

2000 years ago, referring to his own victory over Satan and evil on the cross, Jesus said: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)

To me, it’s a reminder that God’s undying truth, inseparably partnered with unrelenting and self-sacrificial love, is already victorious and continues to be on the move.

Hope is never fully eclipsed. And you are one of its light-wielding warriors.

In response to the Toronto deaths, a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada said something like this which says it well: ‘We are shocked and we are saddened, but we are not afraid.’

By Matthew Ruttan