The Time Has Come

Many people talk about the end times. There are new prophecies and predictions daily it seems. If you look at life through the eyes of the media, you could become quite distraught and fearful. The economy is terrifying. Jobs are scarce. Crime is rampant. But, I tell myself, the things reported on the news are just that...news. And "news" is supposed to be an unusual happening; something out of the ordinary. So, "why so downcast, O my soul? Put your trust in HIM".

Our economy has nothing to do with what is happening in the world. Oh, yes, I am affected by it all. My retirement funds are plummeting at the moment. The house I am trying to sell has been on the market over two years and sold six times, only to fall through one more time this week! Gas and food prices are climbing. Fear does knock at my heart's door also. My physical mind wants to react. In fact, my body is struggling with a nervous condition that doctors have yet to diagnose.

Ah! But my heart, the depths of my being, is not disturbed. You see, I have a choice. I can believe the reports of the economists, doctors, and commentaries, OR I can believe the report of the Lord. I choose the latter. I have friends and family members who insist I should "look around and get real." I do look around. But in so doing, there are choices on what my eyes focus on. I can focus on the "reality" of the circumstances, which may seem bleak, or I can focus on the Word of the Lord.

The Bible is full of stories of faith. People who looked around at their circumstances and then looked to the God who rises above all circumstances. I think of the woman who had only a little grain and oil in the midst of famine. Had she focused on her "reality" alone, she would have perished. But she chose to trust in God and share her last crumb, discovering that God had no famine. He who created all became her supplier. I think of Paul and Silas who were jailed for doing what was right in God's sight. How unfair! Justice had not prevailed. Yet, they sang to the Lord until the walls literally shook and the bars opened. They did not envoke a lawyer, fight for their rights or demand justice. They sang. They worshipped. They trusted God. And they received deliverance.

I think of the many stories of provision...in the wilderness...in Egypt...in the Promised Land...wherever God's people were, there was need for provision and faith.

Oh, some of my acquaintances say that these are just stories handed down from unreliable sources. I suppose that one could choose to believe that. But more modern history suggests that those who had faith in the impossible, those who believed in a loving and capable, personal God, were able to endure much longer than those who succumbed to fear. While I noted that "news" is supposed to be the unusual, I admit that we do not hear news of miracles too often. Why is that? Are they passe? Are they over and done with? Were they just wishful thinking and made up stories I think not!

I think the reason is two-fold. One is that perhap miracles are not so unusual. Perhaps they occur daily. So common, in fact, that we miss them. We fail to see the hand of God in our provision, in our daily protection. The second is that we do not always listen to the right channel. There is an enemy who wants to seek, kill, and destroy our faith and our peace, at the very least. He is the power of the air. Our society seems to want to deny the existence of this being. They cannot deny the results of the existence of evil. That is what they parade on the news. But they try to explain it away with "circumstances". Therefore, we get caught up in listening to the reports of the enemy and begin to allow fear to reside in our minds.
There are true miracles happening every day. There are many foreign lands where missionaries report "unusual" happenings from a human perspective. But those reports do not air on the common channels, and are ridiculed if attempted to be.
That is why the Word says to talk about them among yourselves and pass them on to future generations.

I made a "Memoirs of Faith" book for one of my grown children for Christmas last year. In it, I reported acts of God in provision, healing, protection, etc. that our family has experienced. I reported the heritage of faith handed down from previous generations. I don't know if it has been read yet, but I know that some day they will need it.

Yes, the time has come. Time to change the channel. Time to write down the works of God, even the small ones, to meditate upon. The time has come to exercise our faith; to put aside fear; to stand against the trend of society. The time has come for me to write regularly in this blog and I intend to do so!

To God be the glory: Great things He has done!