When troubles come some people get pessimistic while others exude optimism. Then there are those with apathetic reactions. When things go wrong, they shrug it off. Who cares? They can’t do anything about it anyway. What does it matter?
At the Core of an Apathetic Reaction When Things Go Wrong
An apathetic reaction at best can be a defense mechanism wherein we pretend we don’t care in order to cover up the pain. We put up walls to protect ourselves from further angst. If we convince ourselves it doesn’t matter, we won’t have to feel the pain. We think we can simply ignore it and push through.
At worst, apathy is a heart condition wherein people abort their trust in a sovereign God. “How could a good God allow this to happen?”, they ask. These may be people who once claimed to be Christians but turned agnostic or atheistic in response to negative circumstances that they had a hard time reconciling. They claim not to care about or need God anymore.
Apathy Solves Nothing
Revelation 3:14-22 describes the church in Laodicea as lukewarm, neither hot nor cold — apathetic. They saw themselves as self-sufficient. God said, “But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
Self-protective measures, like apathy, will fall short. Sooner or later, it may all come crashing down on us. Only God can truly protect us in ways that matter.
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Ps. 32:7)
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Ps. 121:2)
Turning from God, acting like we’re self-sufficient and know better than Him, leaves us with an even deeper hole. Only God has the answers.
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. (Ps. 18:30)
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. (Ps. 18:32
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (Isa. 40:28)
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? (Rom. 11:33-34)
The Antidote for Apathy
Remember the God who saved you. The Christian life isn’t about you or anyone else, nor is it about how good life seems. It’s about the Lord who loved you enough to die for you. If He was willing to do that, certainly He will be there for you when things go wrong. Trust Him when He says “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28). Nothing or no one can separate you from His love (Rom. 8:31-39). The one who lacks faith … and love (signs of apathy) “is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins” (2 Pet. 1:9).
Remember the power and promises of this God who loves you and saved you. God doesn’t leave us on our own to figure it out. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Pet. 1:3-4)
If you sense apathy within you, ask this of God: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Ps. 51:12)