Why the biggest story is not always the most important story
When Hurricane Helene swept through much of the East Coast six months ago, it left a trail of destruction that has continued to haunt those caught in its path. While some have been able to rebuild what was lost, the relative isolation of many western North Carolina towns slowed such progress. And, as Jesse Pierre reports, “Few places were hit as hard as Chimney Rock Village.”
Fortunately, they’re on their way back, thanks in part to a rather unexpected source.
Great Needs Trust is one of the groups that has been on the ground to help rebuild the town, and their workers are easy to spot both for the effectiveness of their work and … for other reasons.
You see, the men and women from Great Needs Trust hail from the Amish country of Lancaster, PA, a fact made evident by their dress and approach to the work that needs to be done in Chimney Rock. As Amanda Zook described, “We wanted to help the people with the disaster. Our hearts just felt drawn to come help the people in this area.”
Amos Stoltzfus, another volunteer, added, “It just fills my heart with joy, watching people get their life back again.”
In addition to their work in Chimney Rock, volunteers from the organization have also helped build tiny homes for those displaced by the hurricane throughout much of western North Carolina. And, as Pierre points out, “The volunteers are not just restoring buildings, they’re also restoring a sense of community.”
The true significance of breaking news
You may be wondering why I would start today’s article by highlighting the work of Amish volunteers in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina when the war in Ukraine, tariffs, and the Pope’s passing continue to dominate the news. Those are genuinely important stories and worth following. However, just because something is making headlines doesn’t mean that anything has really changed.
The latest updates on the war in Ukraine, for example, essentially mean that we’re still at the same place as when I wrote about it back in February, with the most significant shift that Trump’s threats to end support for Ukraine may be closer to coming to fruition should the peace process continue to bear little to no fruit.
Likewise, while the trade war in China has shown signs of shifting in recent days—and the stock market has responded well to that hope—the reality is that nothing of substance is all that different than it was last week or last month. There is still a massive amount of uncertainty regarding what the future will bring, and most of the market movements are based more on hopes and fears than reality.
And that is equally true for the reported ninety-plus nations trying to negotiate new trade deals with the US. Even as those deals start to be made, their actual implications for the global economy will remain all but impossible to determine until they are given time to go into effect.
Pope Francis’s funeral will be held at the Vatican tomorrow, with leaders from around the world in attendance and millions—if not billions—of others watching from home. But it will likely be weeks or months before the papal conclave chooses the Catholic Church’s next leader. And, if the past is any indication, there will be at least a few significant surprises in that process along the way.
The truth is, most of these news stories will play out in ways that will impact us, but we have little ability to impact them. Yet, as the story of the Amish volunteers demonstrates, the best way to advance God’s kingdom on earth is to keep our focus and energy on the parts of our lives where we can make a difference.
What is your Chimney Rock?
Our inability to influence the outcome doesn’t mean God wants us to ignore what’s going on with Ukraine, tariffs, the pope, or any of the other headlines out there today. However, it is crucial that we don’t allow the news—and, more specifically, the fear and angst it can generate—to make us ignore God, either.
Toward the end of Christ’s ministry, his disciples pulled him aside and asked what signs would precede the end times (Matthew 24:5–9). Across the nearly two millennia since, Jesus’s response has resulted in far too many attempts to find evidence of his return in the news of the day. But Jesus didn’t tell us what signs to look for so that we could then spend all our time focused on seeking them out.
Instead, he shared that teaching about false prophets, wars and rumors of war, famine, and natural disasters to give them—and, by extension, us—hope and encouragement that there are really only two ways such troubling events can end. Either they will pass, or they will result in his return, and both outcomes are good news for us.
As I wrote in Between Compromise and Courage, “God’s goal is that when the world seems like it’s falling apart, his people won’t. Instead, we should continue to share the gospel and proclaim Jesus is Lord as we prepare for the day when Christ will return and remove all doubt as to the truth of that statement.”
So where is God calling you to make a difference today? What is your Chimney Rock?
How you answer those questions will have a far more significant impact on your life and the lives of those around you than any of the stories dominating headlines today, and our priorities need to reflect that reality.
Do yours?
Quote of the day:
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” —Francis Chan
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