Wednesday, February 25, 2009

There is hope...

Take two fingers. Press them to your neck. If you feel a beat, there's hope.

We are living in troubled times. It seems like every time we turn on the news, all we see is negative. People losing their jobs, retirements going down the tubes, supposedly credible Wall Street advisers being revealed as nothing more then petty thieves. Our entire economic systems appears on the verge of collapsing around us and fundamentally altering our nation's way of life forever.

Take two fingers. Press them to your neck. If you feel a beat, there's hope.

The worst part of it, however, is not the rising unemployment, the declining stock market, or the loss of trust in those former financial "gurus." It's that no one seems to have any idea what to do about it. It is the confusion that's driving us insane. For more then two decades, we were told buying houses and investing in the stock market were surefire ways of achieving financial security. We were told that a college degree was the answer to getting and keeping a job, that if we found a good company to work for and we were successful, we could write our own ticket. If you still believe that, log on to the job boards these days. You'll have to sift between the "work from home" (translation: scam) and the "I need 39 people for sales and management positions" (translation: selling Kirby vacuums door-to-door), and its pretty slim pickings.

Take two fingers. Press them to your neck. If you feel a beat, there's hope.

Not since the Great Depression has this nation faced a crisis of this proportion. While no one seems to know what do, our leaders have decided that doing something is better then nothing, even if that something could drive us further into the hole we have created for ourselves. We have congressmen and senators voting for bills they don't even read and advocating positions with consequences they don't even consider. We have a President desperatly trying to sell us a plan, not because he's sure it will work, but because he needs us to believe it for it to work. And at the end of the day, it will leave the generation that follows us footing the bill.

And yet I am reminded of one simple fact: that there is a God in heaven, and He is still on His throne. The stimulus package could be one trillion or it could be 100 trillion. It really doesn't matter, because when God wants to bless, He blesses. When He wants to take away, He takes away. All throughout the Bible, there are instances of God blessing man, man turning from God, God getting angry, and God getting man's attention. God desires us to be in relationship with Him, and when we turn our backs, its hurts Him and angers Him. He created us in love, and when we forsake Him, it cuts Him to his core. And so, from time to time, God does a little housecleaning, rooting out those elements that are offensive to Him. He wants us to trust Him, and sometimes He finds it necessary, for our benefit, to remove options so that our only choice IS to trust Him and alone.

In light of this, I am always amazed at how quick God is to forgive and restore. In 2 Choronicles 7:14, God says, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Just that quick, when we turn from our sin, He intervenes and restores us. Now, I am not going to dive in to what He means by "their wicked ways." I'll leave that to God to convict us of. What I will say is that, for too long, we haven't been caring about the things God cares about. Rather then worrying if God is on our side, let's strive to be on His side. Rather then seeking His hand, let's seek His face. Rather then telling everyone within shouting distance what we are against, let's start sharing what we are for.

What these times have taught me is that I am utterly incapable of succeeding on my own strength, my natural born talent, my own understanding of how to live life. I have learned that there is a wisdom that is greater then anything I could ever imagine, that wrote the Book on life before life was ever formed. And so, when I get down, discouraged, disturbed or distraught, my God gives me a simple message: that as long as there is still breath in my lungs and a pounding in my heart, as long as I can take two my fingers, press them to my neck, and feel something beating, there will always, always be hope.

3 comments:

  1. "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock and refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:5-8

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  2. Very good Mr. Johnson!

    Stumbled upon your blog and thought I would give you a shout!

    Jay Miklovic

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  3. Eric... have you exited the blogosphere? There must still be some thoughts rumbling through that brain of yours that are dying to hit the internet!

    Press on brother.

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