A New Middle East
Editorial: Trusting in His Ways
At the end of 2024, it was clear that we were entering a new Middle East. It was too early to say with any certainty what this new era would look like, but after more than a year of war, we were certain that our region had changed.
Three months into 2025, the contours of this new era are taking form and becoming clearer. In some cases, there is hope for change, for justice and for peace. All the while, we see the perpetuation of conflict, a violent status-quo, and the risk for another flare up of large-scale war. InLebanon, tensions and bombings persist in the country’s south despite a ceasefire agreement brokered in November. Meanwhile in Gaza, a shaky ceasefire hangs, threatening to collapse at any moment. And in the past few days, a bloody episode of sectarian-fueled revenge killings in Syrian coastal provinces has triggered a new wave of refugees to Lebanon and further concern about the future of Syria – if not the entire region.
Any person may reasonably ask why God allows so much suffering and pain. War is so rarely black and white, and many innocents are killed deliberately or unintentionally in the gunfire and bombings. Why does God allow it? Why doesn’t He make it stop?
Such questions have been asked again and again since the beginning of creation. It can be difficult to provide a satisfactory answer, especially to those who have been most directly hurt and impacted. But for those who trust in God, we can find solace in His word.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” He declares inIsaiah 55:8. He continues in verse 9: “For as heaven is higher than earth,so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
With our tainted, worldly understanding, we may never fully understand why God has allowed such suffering to occur in our country and region. But we must not despair. Rather, such limited understanding pushes us deeper into faith, into trusting God andHis plans.
The conflicts and tensions in the region persist, yet the work of God continues to expand throughHis church in the Middle East and North Africa. Believers remain a light,drawing people into the Kingdom of God. Many of our partners in the region – whetherfacing persecution or in relatively safe places – testify to how God is shakingthe Middle East, reaching people through His church.
Until the day comes that we may comprehend all that which we cannot comprehend now, we keep our trust in the Lord, believing that He will continue to provide and guide us as we continue our work to support the local church in the Arab world.
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