THE WAR IN IRAN: how to make sense of the senseless

How do we respond to a season of chaos?  How do we, as bearers of hope and messengers of reconciliation, respond to a world that has tilted into a seemingly endless spiral of destruction?

The war in Iran has observers baffled.  Fifteen nations are now firing missiles at one another.  More than 2,300 people have been killed in 16 days and countless injured.  Schools are targeted, civilians are dying and yesterday, Mr.Donald Trump announced that the USA plan to fire more bombs “just for the fun of it”  More people killed, more children maimed by the greatest Christian nation on earth – “just for the fun of it”

The question on many people’s lips at the moment is a cry for normality: “How do we make sense of this utter senselessness”?

So, how do we embrace the paradox that even though the senselessness of the season may not be explained by reason, it can still call forth meaning? Can the very absence of logic become the space where compassion, courage, and creativity take root?  In that way, chaos does not define the community—it reveals its capacity to respond with dignity, to insist on hope, and to craft order where none was given.

Making sense of senselessness is less about finding a neat explanation than about creating a framework for endurance.

So, how do find purpose in a season of chaos.  Here are five guidelines.

1. ALIGN WITH THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM, NOT EARTHLY NATIONS

• John 18:36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world [nor does it have its origin in this world]. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting [hard] to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this world.” (AMP)

God’s Kingdom does not belong to any nation on earth. It is not limited by borders, politics, or conflicts. When we align our faith too closely to a nation —whether Israel, the USA, Iran, or Gaza—we can lose sight of the bigger, eternal Kingdom that heals instead of destroys.

When media narratives focus our attention on the evil of the Ayatollah or the assumptions of nuclear weapons in Iran, we turn our vision from heavenly to earthly.  Bombs become justified but with no end in sight, uncertainty becomes the only certainty.

We need to realign with an eternal Kingdom.  When nations rise and fall, and wars come and go, we need to remember that the Kingdom of God lasts forever. When we choose to give our deepest loyalty to Him, we stop chasing political victories and start seeking the kind of redemption that brings peace, mercy, and reconciliation.

Once we confess that our true allegiance is with the Kingdom of Heaven, our priorities naturally shift from earthly power to eternal hope.  With this in mind, and eternity as context, wars become opportunities for Christ to penetrate communities.

2. ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT YOU KNOW, NOT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND

• Acts 4:24-28  When the believers heard it, they all joined together in prayer to God: “Master and Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them!  … why did people make their useless plots? … They gathered to do everything that you by your power and will had already decided would happen. 

When life feels uncertain, we often slip into guessing, worrying, and imagining the worst. War makes us wonder what will happen next, how long the suffering will last, and how it might affect our own lives. In moments like these, we need to shift our attention from what we don’t know to what we do know.

Acts 4:25 reminds us that God is in control. Even when political leaders make destructive plans, God already knows, allows, and can use these events within His greater purpose. We may not understand the details of the conflict in Iran, or the complicated politics between Israel, the USA and Iran, but we do know the character of the God who rules over all things.

We might not know the date the war will end but we do know the God who holds all time in His hands.  We do not know when the suffering will stop, but we do know that our God is a God of comfort who wants ALL to be saved.  We do not understand the dynamics of Israel/ Iran and the USA but we do know the God who created heaven and earth and will continue to hold nations together.  We know He is a God of love, salvation, and redemption. His desire is that every person—whether Iranian leaders, Hezbollah fighters, American presidents, or Israeli prime ministers—would come to know His saving grace.

This is a  steady place to stand.

This truth becomes our comfort and our prayer: that the God we trust will reveal Himself even in the middle of conflict, confusion, and fear.

In times of uncertainty our default mode often shifts to speculation, assumptions and doubt. This certainty is our comfort and our prayer: that the God we know will reveal Himself even in places of conflict and confusion.

3. FOCUS ON THE UNSEEN, NOT THE SEEN

• 2 Kings 6:17-20 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Chaos tempts us to fix our eyes on destruction, fear, and despair. Yet Scripture calls us to lift our vision beyond the visible. To see the unseen is to recognize that God’s hand is at work, that His angels surround His people, and that His purposes are unfolding even when human eyes cannot perceive them. Faith is not blindness—it is a deeper sight, a vision of God’s intervention that transcends the headlines and the rubble.

“It is a fine thought,” says Thenius, “that on this occasion (2 Kings 6:17)  the veil of earthly existence was lifted for a moment for one child of man, so as to allow him a clear glimpse of the sovereignty of Providence.”

Willaim Barclay says the following:

“What Elisha said to his servant is spoken to all the faithful servants of God, when without are fighting, and within are fears. Fear not, with that fear which has torment and amazement; for they that are with us, to protect us, are more than they that are against us, to destroy us.”

The clearer sight we have of the sovereignty and power of Heaven, the less we shall fear the troubles of earth.

4. LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF PEACE, NOT THE VOICES OF THOSE WHO SEEK CHAOS

• Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”

As Christians we should embrace the narratives of those who seek and speak peace.

In times of turmoil, loud voices often call for vengeance, division, and escalation. But the Spirit of Christ speaks through peacemakers, not chaos creators.  The God of peace, the One we call Redeemer, always speaks through voices of reconciliation.  Any other voice, regardless of how well schooled in Scripture or how well justified by politics speaks on behalf of the enemy.  God speaks through those who seek reconciliation and healing. Listen to them!

To listen to peace is to tune our ears to the gospel’s call, to embrace narratives that build bridges rather than walls. It is to discern which voices echo the heart of Christ and which merely amplify the noise of destruction.

A “peacemaker” is someone who reconciles people with God and with one another. Peace-making, as such, requires taking the initiative to get involved in conflicts with the intention of building bridges between the parties at odds.

The Greek word for peace, “eirene,” goes beyond the absence of conflict. It encompasses the idea of wholeness and well-being. Peacemakers, therefore, are those who actively seek to restore relationships and create environments of mutual respect and love – also on social media and social platforms

5. DO THE LITTLE YOU CAN, NOT BE PARALYSED BY THE NEEDS OF THE MULTITUDES

• Luke 16:10 — “Whoever is faithful with little will also be faithful with much.”

 The current scale of suffering in the Middle East can overwhelm us, leaving us frozen in despair. Yet Christ does not ask us to solve every crisis; He asks us to be faithful in the small acts of love we can offer. A prayer, sponsoring a meal, a word of encouragement, a gesture of solidarity—these may seem small, but they are seeds of the Kingdom. Doing the little we can is not insignificance; it is obedience. And obedience, multiplied across the body of Christ, becomes a powerful witness in the midst of chaos.

Here are some wonderful ways that we can get involved and make a difference.

https://thethirdway.org/lebanon-again-on-the-edge/

Together, these five guidelines remind us that purpose in chaos is not found in worldly explanations but in Kingdom alignment. They call us to confess Christ’s reign, rest in what we know of God, lift our eyes to His unseen work, listen for peace, and act faithfully in small ways. That is how believers make sense of senselessness and bear witness to redemption in a broken world.