If we keep up with the news on TV or pay attention to social media today, it seems like all there is to report is bad news. So many people committing terrible crimes and not a lot being done about it. Our justice system, along with many other facets of our government, is in need of a complete overhaul. So many stories of children, even babies, being tortured and raped, starved to death or stricken with some terrible birth defect or disease. It can leave one with feelings of hopelessness and make us scared to trust anyone.
So much attention was drawn to politics in 2016 during the Presidential race which gave us Donald Trump as our new commander and chief. So many of us prayed for God to intervene and give us a President that would turn our country back to Him. Many of us cried and thanked Him when a miracle happened, at the last minute, and Mr. Trump was elected. At last it seemed hope had been restored. God had heard our cries for mercy and given America one more chance!
Some predicted that Trump would win and insisted that he was surely God’s choice to lead us….but others just cannot accept this as even a remote possibility. The “far left” as they are called, simply cannot…. or will not…. accept the fact that Donald Trump, a billionaire business man and reality TV host, could possibly be chosen for anything. So with this mindset they have determined that he must be destroyed.
Businesses, political figures, late night TV hosts, actors, and others who have a platform to do so, have made it their goal to see that America does not turn back. They insist that our country is the best it has ever been….if only people like Donald Trump and every other one that proclaims to be a Christian did not exist. They are not out only to destroy the President but anyone who insists that God, and not them, is the one truly in charge. Some of them confess to believe in God, but feel He has no place in politics while others blatantly deny His existence altogether.
No wonder there is such a feeling of hopelessness when everything President Trump tries to do is met with opposition. What power does the President even have when every law or decision he makes can simply be overruled by other parts of the government? We have so many laws making it impossible to pass a law that our country right now is basically at a standstill and nothing is being done. Congress has not been able to balance the budget in decades. The sad truth is….this mess did NOT start with the election of Donald Trump.
A two party system with the option of a third has been in place for years and seemed to work well until recently. I personally, from having lived for over 65 years, feel the problems started during the 80’s when America was enjoying a time of peace and comfort. No major wars were being fought in the world and the economy was booming. Along with all this newfound prosperity came the the desire for more and more “stuff”….and less time for being grateful or considering its source. Electronics and technology climbed to new heights of success and video games consumed the minds of children everywhere.
A sudden need to open up about all our insecurities brought skeletons tumbling from the most prominent of closets to the poorest ones. No one had to hold anything back anymore. “If it feels good, do it” became everyone’s slogan of choice. Therapists and psychologists saw their business boom and nobody had a secret anymore. To tell all was the cure all. It was as simple as that….or was it? Sex quickly became the most talked about subject of all and the F word among many others was heard and spoken without shame. A new freedom was born and the devil was loving it.
Television eventually took the biggest hit….though some would say it “improved the most” during the next decades. Gone were the family sitcoms many of us had grown up with. Shows that had instilled in us the desire to raise our kids with respect, be a mom like Donna Reed or a dad like Ward Cleaver, be a friend like Dobie Gillis and to love someone like Ricky loved Lucy were a thing of the past. “How Lame” is the reaction most of these beloved shows get from kids today. How could anybody ever watch stuff like that? The TV shows many watched often as an escape from reality soon became nothing but reality shows. Nothing is too ridiculous to show on TV today…. from people being dared to eat live bugs and eyeballs and hunting for Bigfoot to marrying a complete stranger to see if they can find love. If it was ever thought of, it is on TV.
All this openness and need for reality has brought us to the point where respect and concern for others have become old hat. Watch out for number one and save yourself first has become the new mindset for many. The big question is: Where was the church during all this? Were God’s people also enjoying all these changes? Most of them I believe saw the need to change in order to attract the younger generation and keep up with the times. The music became more upbeat and “com-temporary.” The dress codes were done away with and it became common to see women attend services wearing jeans instead of a dress and men in shorts and a T-shirt….why must one be uncomfortable while attending church? Right?
Well, I say: Give me that old time religion. We need to bring back the respect and awe of serving and worshiping a God who loved us through all this craziness and foolishness that we call life. Our kids deserve better than the trash they are offered and clothed in the deceit of “reality.” The true reality is that there is a God who loves us and wants much better for us than what the world in it’s sinful nature can ever offer. Remember: all that glitters is NOT gold, and if something sounds too good to be true it probably isn’t. The only one who loves us enough to give His Son as a sacrifice for our sins is GOD. Do not be misguided. There is only one name above all others who is able to save our souls….and that name is Jesus Christ.
Though the world is full of bad news and the future through its eyes looks impossible, there is an answer. Only Jesus can change the hearts of men who deny Him now. As He did for Saul on the road to Damascus, He can stop us in our tracks and turn our lives around. If we are already following Him, we must not stumble or give up. We need to search our hearts and ask His forgiveness. The only battle ever lost to the enemy were those fought by leaders who did not follow God’s leadership but trusted in their own strength.
Right now we have a President who openly admits his faith in God and is trying to turn our country back to the path we once followed. If and when God allows this to happen and He is once again given the glory that only He deserves, we must not ever allow greed and arrogance to rule our lives again. In the meantime, we must not let the bad news get us discouraged and stop fighting. Look a little deeper and you’ll find that the good news of salvation and hope is there. People do still love and care for each other. Families do still pray together. If the church is dead, that would mean that God is dead too….but look around, He is still alive and working in the hearts of those who seek Him. We must continue to pray for those who deny Him and would have us follow any other way. Praise Him and know that there is POWER in the name of JESUS! And the good news is, He is still in charge.
