I saw a photo on a friend’s news feed of two images separated by 46 years. One was a photo taken in 1975 at the fall of Saigon, Viet Nam. It depicted a US helicopter rescuing people from atop the US Embassy. The other photo taken this week was almost identical. It showed the rescue of personnel from the roof of the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan days after the US withdrawal.

When I first viewed the photo, I was amazed at how history can repeat itself. I saw the photo as a prophetic image foretelling of coming change. When Saigon fell in April of 1975 we were moving through a time of great upheaval in America following the Watergate scandal, a presidential resignation, and the end of the Viet Nam War. It was also the concluding days of the Jesus Movement. We are living in a similar time.

I offer this image and my personal commentary as an appeal for all of us to keep our eyes above the fray of culture so we can see the hand of God at work. As it was in 1975, our nation, and the Church are about to enter a time of rapid change, realignment, and transition. God is offering us an opportunity to learn from the failures of our past so we can move confidently into our future. We need to take advantage of that opportunity.