WHAT AM I TO DO WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES?

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. The holy dwelling places of the Most High God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come, behold the works of the LORD, who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. “Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. (Psalm 46)

High on the list of my repertoire of fear factors are conspiracy theories. That confession embarrasses me. While many conspiracy theories are not far-fetched, and there may be a lot of truth to them, they are called theories for a reason. Having gone through a sham indictment and trial, the struggle is real for me to not “go there”. Conspiracy theories have been around forever because Satan is the father of lies. Whether he’s put a conspiracy theory in the minds of those he controls to falsely accuse the brethren, or he is working in the hearts of his children scheming and plotting behind the scenes concealing his ultimate goals and plans, the bottom line is that God is sovereign. While Satan’s plans may appear to be successful at any given time in history, we know his ultimate defeat is certain. We know, in a general sense, how the story (His) ends!

Maybe you are not afraid of the corona virus. Maybe your fears are more focused on the actions of men. It’s natural when things are out of our control, to accuse any scapegoat that can be found. Remember, our sin nature is prone to be accusatory. I want to challenge you to think about the fact that IT DOESN’T MATTER since God is in control. He wrote the story before any of us existed. If we are focused on the actions of evil men and on conspiracy theories, we cannot be focused on His glorious sovereign control of the universe. The premise of the conspiracy theory is this: “The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered,” without the rest of the verse: “He raised His voice, the earth melted.”

Listen, the end of the world, your world is coming to an end, whether through death or the Lord’s return. We don’t know the day or hour, but we’re to be ready. The problem is that we get lulled into a sense of false peace in this world when we are comfortable, and things are going well. So often in those times or as new believers, we rise up like Peter and the disciples in Matthew 26:35: Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too. We sincerely believe our professions of great faith. But when problems arise, especially those weightier trials, we deny our faith by our fear. We act in unbelief by focusing on anything other than the Lord’s character.

In verse 6 of Psalm 46, we see the nations pictured as angry waves of the sea. What we see going on in the world is not the whole picture. Psalm 2 paints an accurate portrait of history from God’s own perspective. When the high and mighty tyrannical rulers of this world devise their evil agendas, the Lord who is sitting on His throne laughs and scoffs at them because their judgment is coming. King Jesus will break them with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware. The last three verses give a warning to these world leaders to turn from their wicked ways fearing His wrath to come before it is too late. Notice in verse 6 of Psalm 46 that the nations are moved, but because God is our peace, verse 5 tells us that we will not be moved.

Beloved, we are in a war. It’s interesting that we are being told in this pandemic to “shelter in place”. If our shelter or refuge is the Lord, it doesn’t matter where we are physically. Psalm 91 has language representative of war, and how the believer whose refuge is the Lord will be set on high and not be moved by all the surrounding circumstances. Ephesians 6 speaks of the believers’ armor. We are told to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. We are to put on the full armor of God. Why? So, we will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We must remember that those who are the focus of our conspiracy theories are our mission field.

Understanding the true enemy and who our Commander in Chief is will be key to getting victory over our fears. We are to take up the full armor of God so that we will be able to resist in the evil day and to stand firm! Paul repeatedly charges us to stand firm—do not be moved. We also need to be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for the saints.

How are the nations destroyed? With a word from Him. (See Psalm 33:9; 107:25, 29; Matthew 8:26) With a word from His mouth, the Lord of Hosts can cause trouble to cease. He is the Lord of Hosts, the Commander of the armies of heaven; but He is also the God of Jacob. The God of Jacob is the God who covenants with His people individually. THIS is our defender. This is the one Who is on our side. (See Psalm 24; Isaiah 1:9; 8:8) This reminds me of the verse: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

How do you trust the Lord in all things? By knowing Him. We know Him by studying His Word. There is no such thing as a believer who, professing to love the Lord with all her heart, does not want to know everything she can about Him. Come, behold the works of the Lord! Look at the history of how the Lord has acted on behalf of His people. We serve this same God. He is not dead; He is not asleep on His throne! God does not change (this is called the immutability of God).

He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire. This probably refers to the overthrow of the Assyrian army we have looked at in the last few posts. (See Isaiah 14 and 37). The Assyrians were a fierce enemy whose intent was to conquer many world kingdoms. The threat of their weapons was powerless against God’s agenda. The wording in verse 9 takes our minds to the millennial kingdom. Isaiah 2 talks about this time. Verse 4 says: And He will judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. This speaks of a time of complete peace when King Jesus will reign over all the earth. When wars cease, there will be no need for weapons of warfare.

And, we finally come to the verse that most believers know, which is verse 10. “Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” This is the Lord, Himself speaking. Unbelievers and believers, alike, need to be still or cease striving. Unbelievers need to give up raging against God and His people because they cannot win the battle! Believers need to cease striving because God is fighting the battle on their behalf, and the outcome of victory is certain. Cease means “to cast down” or “to let fall”.  Surrender to Him! Stop the doubt and fear wrestling match that is going on in your soul. This is a rebuke to a restless and turbulent world. Be still and what? KNOW! Know that He is God!

Have you ever seen in cartoons or the movies when someone is panicking and another one comes along and slaps him in the face? His response is, “Thanks! I needed that!” This is our slap across the face imperative. Job got his slap across the face when the Lord responded to his inquiries and demand for a hearing. In Job 40:1-4 we see this dialog between the Lord and Job: Then the LORD said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” Then Job answered the LORD and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.”  When we rail against our circumstances that God ultimately purposed for our good and His glory, we need the slap across the face. We need to come to a greater knowledge of our God. Job got it. Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6) May this be our ever-increasing response to His revelation of Himself in the midst of our trials.

Believers have all the evidence they need to fully put their trust in the Lord. If He has saved them, will He not continue to save them until they have been delivered safely to the eternal shores? At the parting of the Red Sea, Exodus 14:13 reads: But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.” We, who believe, may need gentle reminders of His character when storms initially hit us, but we should never look like the world in needing to be convinced to trust God, unless we never truly trusted Him to begin with.

Finally, “I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” As Philippians 2:10-11 says, one day…at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Don’t be miffed when it doesn’t seem as though God is defending you here and now. It is humiliating to stand in a courtroom being falsely accused of intentionally committing a crime as someone who strongly professes faith in Jesus Christ. Fourteen years later, being mocked, judged as a hypocrite, and laughed at—it appears as though the enemy has won. However, we should not be dismayed when these things happen to us because they happened to our Lord. The Lord over all the universe is not exalted among the heathen right now. But that day is coming, and we should eagerly be awaiting that day when He receives all the glory He deserves. Wicked men in high places throughout the nations of this world are a formidable enemy because Satan controls them. But even Satan is no match for the One who created him!

The Lord of Hosts is with us! We must stop focusing on the world as if this is our home. We must lift our eyes to see Him as He has revealed Himself to us through His Word. Trust comes from knowledge. We must know Him as Lord of Hosts—the Almighty who reigns over all. And, we must know Him as the God of Jacob. Why Jacob? Because he was the deceiver, the schemer, yet God chose to save him. This points us to the God of sovereign grace. God chose the conniver over the nice guy. In this, we can remember that the one who looks like our enemy here on earth is our mission field, and He only chooses those who are unworthy.