There Is No Good Reason to Despair.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord – Psalm 27:13-14

There is no good reason to despair.

God has promised that he will take care of us. In the middle of the worst conditions, in the middle of the most sever persecution, even if we are giving up our earthly lives because of our belief and confession in Christ Jesus, he will take care of us. If the time comes to choose between our head and our heart for God, He will be there to take us to a place of eternal comfort.

Too many times it is my physical condition and my comfort that matter most and if they are out of sorts, then my life is out of sorts. If my life goals are thwarted I become frustrated (another way to say angry).  This is not the way it is to be. Not in the land of the living.

So the world we have enjoyed is drying up and the freedoms we have enjoyed are evaporating. Our sense of security which is built on law and order is bring ripped away and we are feeling exposed, at risk and in danger. Those willing to be our protectors have become the hunted.   Pay attention to what is happening in the world and understand the result is fear and again anger. This fear and anger develops into hate against what we identify as our enemy.  Out of fear, anger and hate we create defenses to protect what we hold dear, our way of life.  What is our way of life? Is it liberty and freedom? Is it opportunity for all who work hard? Is it the pursuit of excellence and greatness? Is the the ability to succeed if we work hard enough and are smart enough?  Is it gathering together in buildings we call church or in the open square and lifting our voice in worship and praise?  Is it the ability to dress as we wish without fear of assault, rape and death?  Is this the American Dream? And, without this American way of life, we are what? Lost? Finished? In trouble? Hopeless?

The way of life which we have come to expect because it was given to use – often at the expense of the lives of others – and we have worked hard for it and because it has been considered our birthright in this country for so long, we see it eroding away beneath our feet. Be on your guard, has God indeed promised his children what so many today believe they are entitled to?  Have we been deceived by the siren song as it has been delivered from the pulpits of our church?  God Bless America, we sing while in truth, and for a long time, America has been forgetting God and replacing worship of the Creator God with worship of the creature’s desire.

What God has promised is found in his Word, not in the documents that formed and governed this country.  As wonderful those documents are in their original intent, and as dedicated to God as many of the those who formed those documents, the fact is, the Word of God has been discarded and we have placed our faith in the words of this country’s founding fathers. Some have their faith in the reinterpretation of those words by leaders who have never believed in God.

We have become confused about who it is that we are supposed to listen to and draw our hope from. We have placed our hope for security and greatness into the hands of people who impress us with their performance, or success, or promises and our hope is built on nothing less than what they say they will do for us.

In whom should we place our trust? It is God Almighty, not the President of the United States. Our faith is to be in what God has given us, not in what the White House, or Senate, or House of Representatives, or Supreme Court has given us or what our founding fathers have given and entrusted to us.  Take a look at what we have from these and consider again what political party or ideology is greater than the Lord God and his Word. Stop believing in might and power – believe instead in the power and promise of the Spirit of God.  It is time to unhook your political party from your faith and rest on faith alone. God can and will do everything he has promised and he does not need your particular political ideology to accomplish it.