I don’t mind telling you that I feel like we are in a sad, sorry mess in America today. I have not lost hope, but rather, I see the landscape for what it is….a disaster looking for a place to happen. And happen it will, if America does not hit her knees in repentance for the atrocities that we have perpetrated on what was once the most blessed nation on earth.
• God and the Bible were expunged from the classroom in the 70s
• 21% of all pregnancies end in abortion (operationrescue.org)
• Not quite half of all marriages in the US end in divorce (CDC statistics)
• The US Supreme Court arrogantly ‘re-defined’ marriage to include homosexual unions
• Obamacare has driven us further down the path toward socialized medicine
• The church has vilified and demonized those with whom they disagree, rather than showing the love of Jesus to them
• We sit on an $18 trillion budget deficit (try that with your personal budget!)
• Our borders are as porous as a sieve, allowing our enemies free entry
• Many of the current crop of presidential contenders are terrifying
• Millions of young adults have walked away from the church
Where is hope to be found?
May I share with you how hope seeps into the crevices of my heart on a daily basis? I find my hope in God’s Word. Drink deeply from them, friends.
Psalm 83:18 ~ ……..you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
God is still ruling and reigning over all the earth. Just because we fail to acknowledge His sovereignty and supremacy does not mean that He has ceased to rule and reign. He is still on His throne turning the pages of the Kingdom calendar exactly on schedule.
Daniel 2:20-22 ~ Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.
Throughout the ages God has used rulers, kings, and presidents for His sovereign purposes. God’s hand is ever present in government, even when our leaders do not follow God. This has been my only comfort over the past eight years in American government. Enough said.
Isaiah 40:21-31 (a lengthy, but oh-so-good passage)
Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; Who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?
He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might, and because He is strong in power not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to Him who has no might He increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
God is not surprised by the state of the world around us. He is not wringing His holy hands over it. Yes, He is saddened by it, but He is not hopeless over it. Neither should we be.
Let us ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ and not the state of the world.
Let us set our hearts on God and call out to Him for mercy.
Let us have renewed hope that He does all things well.
Seek His heart and stay faithful to the last word you heard from Him.
He is still on the throne!
Now, let’s engage. Speak truth and encouragement in the comments section. Remember, each time you comment you are entered for February Engage Giveaway!
