It is not hard to see the dark side of the world around us. Sometimes, such as now, it is more prominent than at other times.But pause and give the people of the world a moment to express ourselves, and you will see that we are filled with hatred, evil, anger, prejudice … the list goes on and on.The ProblemMillions of supposed experts have labeled our maladies and their cause. It is this disorder or that.But God, in one simple statement, clarifies all of this for us. It is found in the most majestic, powerful, direct prophecy of Scripture regarding the coming of Christ that we have in our Bibles:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isaiah 53:6 NASB).

We have gone astray from God. This is a two-fold problem. Not only have we left Him, but we have turned in another direction. We think our “own way” is the best path.So we turn from trusting the Creator to trusting in the creature. From following Christ to following our own opinions and thoughts.In this constant, tragic rejection, we lose everything that matters and lasts. We lose our source of guidance, security, love, correction, balance, peace. We “miss the mark” in life (which is a direct translation of one of the words used to describe sin).Disconnected from God, we are pathetic creatures, because we were never designed to live apart from Him. Like sheep, we are lost without our Shepherd.We fight and quarrel, steal and murder, hate and destroy. The very worst parts of our world are a testimony to what happens when we wander from God.The SolutionBut the glorious truth of Isaiah 53 is that God has sent One to bring us back to Himself. To pull His sheep in close. To restore us from our wandering.God “caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Christ took the penalty for all of our sin. In so doing, He provided a way for us to come back into His throne room and have peace, not enmity, as we walk with the One who made us.If we trust in what He has done and enthrone Him as the Lord of our lives, we will find everything we need. The very best parts of our society illustrate this, and heaven is filled with this beauty because it is filled with those who are fully connected.Every problem in our world can be traced to the simple root of forgetting and wandering from God. And the solution has been made simple through the incredibly selfless work of Christ on our behalf.We must return to Him. When we do, we find the answers to every problem that plagues us.Father, help me to stop complicating this. We have sinned against You, and every manifestation of evil in the world illustrates this rebellion. Remind me that through Christ, we must come back to You and live with an ever-deepening dependence on You. Show me how to do that today, and the rest of my days, for the good of this world and the glory that will come to You.