#iCONVICTION – Falling Into Place

In the past few months, I can’t count how many times I have heard people say,  “This world is falling apart.” With terrorist attacks, the pure evil of ISIS, mass murders, and the common news report of chaos and disaster, though it is terrible, I want to respond that it is actually biblical.
Please allow me to clarify. This world is not falling apart, it’s falling into place. As time moves forward, it is written that man will move backwards. Jesus Himself predicted the momentum of this age when He said, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-8).
And the beginning of sorrows is the beginning of birth pains. As time unfolds, the contractions get closer and closer, leading up to the unexpected birth. I’m not trying to predict the end times and the return of Jesus as He declared it. No one knows that but God Himself. 
But I am writing to remind us about the biblical stability of these unstable times. And if God isn’t moved by the events of our day, then as long as I am with God, I shouldn’t be moved either. Not politically. Not emotionally. Only biblically and spiritually.
Conversely, I remember a time when it felt as if my own world had fallen apart. Actually, it did by way of complete implosion. My personal and reckless decision to drink and drive had not only made the terrible news, but it had caused two different worlds of people to tragically collide and suddenly flip upside down. 
Yet the same concept has found itself to be true even in my own small world. Through the same birth analogy that Jesus creatively used, I discovered that as my world felt like it was falling apart, I learned that it was ultimately falling into place. And it was my faith in a sovereign God that instigated my belief system and was the sole reason I was able to find peace in the midst of unstable times.
As biblical prophecy goes, times are only going to get worse. The contractions will only pick up pace. And with that understanding, my question is, “Do you know if your personal world is falling apart or falling into place?”
However, the only way for your pieces to find their rightful place on your puzzle is if you tap into the peace of God that can only be discovered in the Bible. Don’t put off the decision to trust God with your life until the world gets better or safer. It’s not going to happen.
There is no better time than during the season that celebrates the birth of a Savior—the Prince of Peace—to find true peace and freedom regardless of what takes place around us. 
Matthew Maher is a former professional athlete and author of the newly-released book U MAY B THE ONLY BIBLE SOMEBODY READS: R U LEGIBLE? His “Decisions Determine Destiny” assemblies are funded by State Farm and service youth in the tri-state area. He served four years and seven months in N.J. state prison and was released August 2014. You can learn more at www.themattmaherstory.com, where his blogs have been read by over 500,000 people in every state, 121 countries, and in 67 different languages. Follow him on Twitter @mattmaherstory and on Instagram @matthewmaher7