In February, 1504, Christopher Columbus was in a bad way. On his fourth visit to the New World, his badly leaking ships had left him stranded on today’s island of Jamaica. The inhabitants, initially hospitable, had grown hostile to his crews and threatened to cut off their food supply.
Consulting his astronomical charts, Columbus realized they predicted a lunar eclipse in a couple of days. The day before the eclipse, he told the local leaders if they didn’t change their minds, the moon would disappear. When the eclipse occurred as he’d predicted, the locals relented and gave him food. His men and ships were rescued and returned to Spain, but Columbus never returned to the New World.
While it was deceitful, Columbus did what was needed to save the lives of his people. While we should always seek to do what is right, some of our choices may involve risk. Desperate parents will do things for their family they might otherwise condemn.
Life’s choices are not always clearly between right and wrong. Due to mankind’s fallen state, sometimes we must choose the lesser of two evils. That is why we need Jesus our Savior sent to rescue us from ourselves. That is why we need His forgiveness on the cross.
The complex situations we face in the world today - immigration, right to defend ourself, limits of free speech, and how to help those in need - all require wise choices with limited resources. Such struggles should move us to seek counsel from God’s Word. To rely only on our human wisdom is foolish. We need God’s Word to show us the way.
I pray that our new civil leaders will seek the Lord’s guidance as they act, because human wisdom alone will not solve what lies before us. It would be wise for us all to “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)
Let us all pray for new leaders put in place in the coming days.
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