Coping in a Rapidly Changing World

At the risk of sounding like an “old person,” I admit that lately I find myself telling a lot of “Back in my day” stories to the high school and college students I know. I tell them that when I was a teen, I had to go to the library to do research for class assignments, type my term papers on a typewriter, do manual layouts for the school newspaper using paper and rulers, and find a payphone to call someone if I had an emergency away from home.

What I find particularly interesting is young people will often respond by saying: “Sure, things are different from when you were a kid. But think about how much change there’s been just in my lifetime!”

And it’s true. Our world and our lifestyles have been radically altered in only the last 15 to 20 years.

Much of this change is a direct result of technological innovations, in particular the advent of the Internet and smartphones in the late 20th century, which revolutionized communication and allowed for an unprecedented flow of information. That paved the way for the development of text messaging, video streaming services, e-commerce websites like Amazon, and social media sites like Instagram and Facebook—all of which became an integral part of Western culture by the 2010s. Then of course the last three to five years have seen the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) systems, further reshaping the way we live and work.

Tech companies are now working to develop more advanced AI systems, brain-computer interfaces, quantum computers (far exceeding the speed and scale of traditional computers in solving complex problems), and smart cities (managed by sensors and AI).

On top of that are seismic geopolitical, social and cultural shifts intensified by new technologies. For instance, social media and digital platforms give voice to political activists and “regular folk,” leading to polarization among peoples and driving societal change.

The mathematics behind our rapid rate of change

Obviously, for as long as human beings have been on the earth, there have been cultural changes, inventions, social movements and new ways of thinking. Consider how the development of the printing press, steam engine and automobile, along with the ideologies of Charles Dawin, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, transformed the world. On a more personal level, throughout history kids have probably heard stories about how their parents and grandparents lived and marveled at how different life was “back then.”

But while societies have always experienced change, since the early part of the 20th century the rate of change has been rapidly speeding up. Today, we’re experiencing an accelerated rate of both technological and cultural changes unlike anything past generations have witnessed.

The reason, explains Richard Swenson in his 2004 bestseller Margin, is that “the mathematics are different. Many of the linear lines that described the world in the past have now disappeared. Replacing them are lines that slope upward exponentially. Because there is little in our day-to-day lives that changes exponentially, we tend to think with a linear mindset. Week after week, everything seems about the same. Meanwhile, largely unnoticed by us, history has shifted to fast forward. If linear still best describes our personal lives, exponential now best describes most of historical change” (p. 40).

British AI entrepreneur Mustafa Suleyman believes the invention of the integrated circuit (later known as a silicon chip) in the early 1960s initiated the exponential technological change. He notes in The Coming Wave that “since the early 1970s the number of transistors per chip has increased ten-million-fold. Their power has increased by ten orders of magnitude—a 17-billion-fold improvement . . . This rise in computational power underpinned a flowering of devices, applications, and users. In the early 1970s there were about half a million computers. Back in 1983, only 562 computers total were connected to the primordial internet. Now the number of computers, smartphones, and connected devices is estimated at 14 billion. It took smartphones a few years to go from niche product to utterly essential item for two-thirds of the planet” (2025, pp. 33-34).

He continues: “Access to technology grows as it gets cheaper. Technology proliferates, and with every successive wave that proliferation accelerates and penetrates deeper, even as the technology gets more powerful” (p. 34). He foresees a continuing acceleration of technological innovation in the years ahead as capabilities accumulate and efficiencies increase.

Aside from tech-related changes, our world is experiencing other compounding changes. For instance, the Bible being taken out of schools and public life has led to a greater acceptance of unbiblical lifestyles. The decline of the nuclear family and increase in divorce rates have certainly led to social or mental health problems, which can in turn lead to increasing crime rates. It’s no wonder change overload has become a popular catchphrase.

More change than we can handle

In 1970, futurist Alvin Toffler described the effects of “too much change in too short a period of time” in his contemporary classic Future Shock.

He predicted that people exposed to these rapid changes of modern life would suffer from “shattering stress and disorientation.” They would be, in his words, “future-shocked.” He maintained that the need to constantly adapt to changing situations could lead to feelings of helplessness, despair, depression, uncertainty, insecurity, anxiety and burnout. His description matches what we find today.

A 2024 GlobeScan opinion poll shows that nearly eight in ten people worldwide (78 percent) believe “the world is changing too quickly for me,” indicating an overall sense of anxiety about the radical transformations our world is undergoing, whether they be technological changes, or social or political upheavals.

Most of us don’t like change, especially when it’s thrust upon us. We enjoy our routines and having some “normalcy” to our lives. We like to think we have some control over how we live. So when we hear about the latest political maneuverings, we can’t help but feel some stress about how those developments might play out. We might worry how the development of super AI could impact us, what having a brain-computer interface might lead to, or how geopolitical realignments could affect our retirement portfolios.

It’s the uncertainty about what “might happen” and “fearing the worst” that has a lot of people feeling jittery. We might be overwhelmed with so much to take in all at once. It can be hard to know how to interpret what is happening: Will this new development make life better or worse? Even changes that ultimately turn out to be improvements can be stressful if they happen too fast.

Thriving through uncertainty

It’s all a lot to deal with! Thankfully, the Bible provides guidelines for how to face uncertain times with courage, wisdom and a positive mindset. These guidelines include:

Look to God for stability. No matter how tumultuous or volatile this world gets, we can always count on God to take care of us. He is our refuge and our Rock (Psalm 46:1; Psalm 18:2). His promises and truths don’t change and never will (Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 40:8). We need to make our relationship with God our top priority, setting aside time for daily prayer, Bible study and meditation, because ultimately that’s what will get us through challenging times.

Don’t be caught off-guard. Expect continuing changes in the world as we get closer to Christ’s return. The Bible tells us that in the end time knowledge would increase (Daniel 12:4), that there would be numerous wars (Matthew 24:6-8), that societies would be immoral and violent (2 Timothy 3:2-3), and that the love of many would grow cold (Matthew 24:12)—which could certainly be a result of people giving most of their attention to their digital devices. The move towards a cashless society and digital tracking could align for what might happen in the future with the rise of the “Beast” power in Revelation. We don’t know if the changes we’re seeing now will directly lead to end-time events, but they could. At the very least we shouldn’t be alarmed when we see these things.

Be willing to go against the tide. Romans 12:2 warns against conforming “to the pattern of this world” (New International Version). In today’s terms, don’t cave in and let AI write your essay or post information on Facebook that should be kept private, just because everyone else is doing so. Think about whether things would really be beneficial in the long run. We shouldn’t blindly follow the trends.

Stay connected with other people for support. Make the effort to build and maintain connections with friends, relatives, neighbors and fellow church members. This will help us get through challenging periods and allow us to provide encouragement to others as well. Ecclesiastes 4:12 reminds us of the support found in companionship: “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Keep eternity in focus. Change becomes more stressful when we lose sight of what truly matters.

Colossians 3:2 says to “set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (NIV). While we must stay alert to what is happening around us, our ultimate focus should be on our ultimate hope. The Bible provides us with a magnificent vision of a better world that’s coming. We know that God the Father will be sending Jesus Christ back to the earth to establish His eternal Kingdom. Keeping that in mind as the end goal will provide us with hope, confidence and peace of mind.

Ten dramatic changes in recent decades

Lifestyles and living conditions have changed dramatically in just the past 15 to 20 years. Here’s a brief overview.

1. We now “interact” more with digital devices than with people.

We work, shop, entertain ourselves, do our banking, socialize—all in front of a screen. Rather than talk on the phone or meet in person, we often rely on text messaging to try to maintain friendships. At the supermarket, we use self-checkout terminals to pay for our groceries. At restaurants and drive-throughs, we interact with AI-powered self-service kiosks to place our orders. It’s all taking away opportunities for human-to-human communication we need—even casual interactions with cashiers and clerks we don’t know personally.

2. We’re overloaded with information.

Until 1900, human knowledge doubled every century. Now, with AI-powered research tools and the Internet being available to facilitate collaboration among researchers, knowledge is doubling every two to three years. Moreover, the speed and scale of information dissemination has accelerated. We’re bombarded 24/7 with emails, instant messaging, social media, news feeds, etc., sending a continual stream of new information our way—far more than most people can process.

3. The world is much more confusing.

Ironically, while we have a crazy amount of information available at our fingertips 24/7, it’s become hard to know what’s true and what isn’t. Anyone can post “information” online via their own blogs and websites, even if it isn’t accurate or hasn’t been truly fact-checked. Adding to the confusion is AI technology now being used to create deepfakes—images, videos and audio recordings that appear real but aren’t.

At the same time, scientists and intellectuals are increasingly calling into question almost everything Western civilization once espoused (including basic biblical truths), from whether unborn babies are persons from conception and the realities of gender differences, to whether miracles are possible.

4. We lead increasingly less private lives.

With just a few clicks, anyone can go online and find out where we live and work, the value of our home, and other once-private details. Some people also voluntarily share a lot of personal information on social media, like details about their friends, their children, marriage problems or even quarrels conducted online for everyone to see.

On top of that, tracker programs are harvesting data about us every time we go online or use a smart device—where we shop, what we buy, what we believe, what medical conditions we’re concerned about, whom we associate with, etc. And we don’t really know who has or may ultimately end up with this information.

5. People are losing jobs to AI.

Some warn that entire industries may end up being taken over by AI over the next decade—something not foreseen a few years back. A push to replace many jobs primarily done by computer is already underway. That includes professions like copyediting, web content writing, graphic design, medical analysis, computer programming, financial trading, legal work and even customer service. Some labor market experts predict that 40 to 60 percent of jobs worldwide could be lost or degraded due to AI within the next three to five years.

6. We rely on electronic devices to do a lot of our thinking for us.

A couple decades ago, if we were planning a car trip to an unfamiliar area, we’d get out a map and plan our route. Now we just get in the car and let our GPS tell us where to drive. Another trend is students and employees using AI assistants like Copilot or ChatGPT to not just help with researching or editing reports, but to actually do the writing for them. This has many concerned, because when people rely on machines to think for them, they miss out on the “cognitive workout” that can strengthen their analytical skills.

7. We’re much closer to a cashless society.

According to credit card processing company Clearly Payments, as of 2025 84 percent of financial transactions in the United States are made digitally. Most of us rarely use cash anymore. Instead, we pay for our purchases using credit or debit cards, digital wallets, digital payment apps, cryptocurrencies, or online payment services like Google Pay and PayPal. When we have bills to pay, rather than write checks, we often make payments online using digital bank apps.

8. The LGBTQ movement has gone mainstream.

Probably the biggest change in terms of morality during the last 10 to 15 years has been increased acceptance of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) movement. Same-sex marriage became legal in the United States in 2015. That same year, “drag queen story hours” for children made their debut. Meanwhile, the entertainment industry has been busily promoting “alternative” lifestyles. It seems like practically every TV streaming series produced within the last decade has at least one gay couple in it, with those relationships typically portrayed as “normal.”

The public is certainly being influenced. A September 2025 Gallup poll found that 64 percent of Americans now accept gay or lesbian relations, up from 40 percent in 2001.

9. Nations are more divided than ever.

This past year, elections in more than 100 nations exposed a widening gulf between those with opposing political views. No matter what country we live in, if we turn on the news or scroll through social media feeds, we are likely to see the rifts.

Numerous surveys confirm that America is more divided than at any time since the Civil War. A September 2024 Gallup poll reports a record-high of 80 percent of U.S. adults believe Americans are seriously divided on politically based issues. Moreover, research confirms that political violence has increased significantly in recent years, due to increasing hatred between political factions. The September 2025 assassination of conservative Christian political spokesperson Charlie Kirk was a sobering reminder of that sad fact.

10. We worry more about the potential for war.

With all the political tension in the United States, increasingly Americans believe the nation will experience a civil war sometime in the years ahead. Many are also concerned that the world is on the verge of a worldwide war.

The world feels tense. News headlines talk about wars, trade disputes and nuclear threats. Conflicts like the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars intensify the public’s fears. A 2025 YouGov poll conducted across five European nations and the United States revealed that between 41 and 55 percent of respondents from each nation believe World War III could erupt within the next five to ten years. Concerns haven’t been this elevated since before the start of World War II.

So while we live in a rapidly changing, increasingly perilous world (2 Timothy 3:1), we can still live our lives with a positive outlook—if we cling tightly to the God who does not change, whose precious promises and truths are absolutely certain!