There hasn’t been a slow news day since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Not even close. And it will be a long time before there is another slow news day. Recently I watched an entire TV newscast, viewing the immense number of world-changing events and thinking that any of those single events would normally have dominated an entire newscast. I was also feeling emotionally overwhelmed by it all. I turned to my wife and said, “It would be nice to have a slow news day.” For a journalist, that’s almost as rare a statement as an admission of libel.

Despite all that news, though, there is a story that is almost unreported—it is the biggest story of our day. That story is tied intricately with the news of terrorist attacks and military strikes, with anthrax fears and security precautions. That story gives hope and assurance even while grieving and groaning. It is the unseen story of the advance of Christ’s kingdom. A marvelous aspect of that story is that, while this world is quite obviously and violently in the process of passing away, this other kingdom surges in territory and brilliance. Those of us who have the “second sight” to see this kingdom aren’t looking for the way to live the 1950s over again; we’re looking for the way to live for Christ today. We see it as a time of tremendous opportunities to make a difference, to be a difference.

The kingdom we speak of is unseen to our eyes, that is true. But it has always been so. Almost from the beginning of Genesis, those who were called God’s people outwardly were not all God’s people, and some who were not identified with God’s people were drawn by God into His kingdom. As an American trying to understand what God thinks of our nation and how He will respond to our nation’s prayers, that gives me comfort. When we pray as a nation there is much idolatry and hypocrisy and ignorance in the hearts of many, yet it was so with Israel as well. God did not hear the prayers of the unconfessed idolaters, but He often blessed their nation as His people turned to Him in humility and repentance. This double seeing helps me identify more closely with precious words such as in Isaiah 61 (see cover).

I don’t know what will become of America—or any other country. for that matter. I pray that America will turn back to God so that it will once again be truly great and so that we will truly be thankful for the many blessings we have. But the eyes of my heart are much more focused on the spiritual reality and the unseen kingdom that is the untold story of our clay. This kingdom doesn’t need many journalists, but there are abounding opportunities for those who want to make the news instead of just watch it. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”