Changing Times

We have heard the statement, “There are only two things certain in life-death and taxes.” The statement was originally written in 1716, “Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes,”[1] This statement may be partially true but one can add another, change.

We have witness more change in our lifetime than most of the other generations since time began. Those born early in the 20^th century would never believe the advances that have been made in every area of our lives. We are now facing one of the most challenges that we have ever seen. We’ve seen many things happen in our country that only a writer of some weird scientific fiction book could have ever dreamed about. There is no need to enumerate these but allow me to just mention a couple of these.

We would have never believed that a silent enemy could strike so violently and attack people of the entire world in such a short period of time, take our country from the most admired economy in the world to one on the brink of depression in a matter of weeks, force people to stay at home and only get out for the absolute necessities of life and prohibit the assembling of more than ten people in a particular gathering.

The freedom of assembling in a church has taken on another dimension. The internet has become the house of worship. But, I ask will it now become part of the new normal where “worship” will now be only a “presentation” style rather than a “participation” style of worship? This will now be the first time ever in the U.S. that churches will not be able to assemble for Palm Sunday and Easter. These are two of the most important Christian holidays for the church. (Sad that we will not be able to assembly together.)

Some things will never change! God is still God and He will never change.  ^“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”. Who He is, never changes. His attributes are the same from before the beginning of time into eternity. His character never changes – He never gets “better” or “worse.” His plans do not change. His promises do not change.

There is some good news in the midst of our changing world. There is a source for peace and joy, even in the midst of the storms of life—God. . What all of this means, very simply, is that God is dependable! Our trust in Him is therefore a confident trust, for we know that He will not, indeed cannot, change. His purposes are unfailing, his promises unassailable.[2] He is still the same as when He created the world. If God could change and His power be diminished, He would cease to be God. Therefore, His love for us will always be the same.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.[3]

Stay safe and keep the faith. There is a brighter day coming and we can hope and trust that we will become out of this better that we were when we entered this storm. We can make it; our victory is just ahead!

God bless each of you is my prayer.

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[1] The Cobler of Preston by Christopher Bullock

[2] Sam Storms

[3] Romans 8:35-39 NLT

Interruptions in Life

An interruption to our plans or our way of life is never a welcome experience. We want our life to be as we have it planned. “You’ve really got it made.” “Life is just a bowl of cherries.”   “Life couldn’t be better.” These are statements that all of us love to hear and desire to say about ourselves and our life. But all of us know that it is not always like this. Troubles come and oftentimes we are not prepared to deal with the situation. One cannot properly prepare for all the issues that we face because it is easy to think it will never happen to us. There is a thin line between building a future and preparing for the things that could happen to impact that.

“Prepare for the worst but hope for the best - the former makes you sensible, and the latter makes you an optimist.”[1] A great tool for this in the manufacturing field was the use of a Cause and Effects Diagram. Very early in my career as a process engineer, as we designed equipment for manufacturing products, we used the term, “in case of.” We tried to anticipate the possible failures and the effects. We also found that the cost associated with the anticipation of problems added more than the potential failures.

The situation that’s happening in the world today is one that the world was not prepared to handle. Yes, we have been through difficult times but not to this degree. One would have never believed that an invisible enemy could take the entire world to its knees practically overnight. We scramble and search for the answer or magic wand to wave and hope it goes away. We search for the most brilliant people to work with to resolve the issue and the enemy seems to evade and continues to win. We could not have anticipated the unknown by asking the basic question of, “What if?”

There are different ways to react to the disruptions in life.

• Negative

o       Hibernate or bury our head in the sand and hope it goes away.– that only yields to the enemy and keeps us from the continuation of a normal life.

o       Overact – this is a good example of building too many “in case of’s” and will lead to a life of anticipation for the worst.

o       Be so fearful that we forget that “the things beyond myself, I leave to God.”

o       Lose faith and start to blame God for allowing this to happen.

I’ve often said that with every problem or frustration, there is an opportunity. So, we need to look for the opportunities that are in the waiting stage. 

Someone wrote this in 1634 that “every cloud has a silver lining”[2] and has been used many times since.

o       There is something good in everything that's bad

o       Every negative occurrence has a positive aspect to it

o       Every difficult or unpleasant situation has some advantage

o       Some benefit can always be derived from a bad thing that happens

• Positive

o     Refocus on what is most meaningful in life. Sometimes it takes us being at the bottom to be able to look up and see the opportunities above

o     Focus on helping those who do not have hope (if I can help someone as I pass along, then my living is not in vain).

o    Personal Priorities review the past and alter for the future. Realize that things that we thought we could not live without are truly expendable.

o      Quickly realize that the essentials of life are God provided things.

o    Spiritual level, we have an opportunity to return to God, the One that is able to do more than we could ever ask or think.

o     Take a self examination of one’s own life and make the changes that are needed. Perhaps it is as simple as our attitude about God, family, job, health, etc.  Remember, “your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”[3]

As Christians we realize that God will always be with us no matter what happens in the world around us. We will come through this stronger than before. Keep the faith and hold on to the loving hand of One who is always with us. Let’s determine that the interruptions in life will not change our focus on the most important things of life.

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

 Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

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[1] Unknown

[2] unknown

[3] Zig Ziglar

Challenging Times

We have heard many times in our lifetime, “We have never done it like that before.” I need not remind us that we are facing issues in our country right now that we have never had to face. It has changed our way of life so much and in some cases may not return to the old “normal.” I remember an executive at a large automotive company told the suppliers during a challenging time that, “Twenty years from now you will look back and say, those were the good old days.” I can truly look back and agree with him after a few things that has happened recently. I’m not sure that we will look back twenty years from now and say that about today. One thing we can say is that we have a special help in the time of need if our hope and trust is founded on a solid foundation—Jesus Christ.

Look with me to a portion of scripture found in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Talk about a tough time, the apostle was going through a period of time that he perhaps had never gone through before. He refused to let the things that he was facing take his eye off the positive side of life. He did not try to hide the fact that it was a very difficult time but notice that with each of the trials, he stated victory over the trial. He stated that he was hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted and even struck down. In the middle of all these trials and tests of the apostle, he boldly and confidently realized the Lord would help him through them. He stated with each of the trials, “I am not crushed, not in despair, not abandoned and not (will not be) destroyed.

Life as know is not always easy; we are facing some tough times. We are also reminded that Jesus told us that “in this world you will have trouble” but He also gave us great words of comfort—“I have overcome the world.” These were encouraging words that we can gain strength today.

The things we are facing today may tend to leave us puzzled, perplexed, unable to fully understand. Those are honest and normal responses. But we must not allow these to bring us to the place of losing hope; God is faithful! He will be with us in our time of trials and suffering, and will bring us through it to victory. The battle of life may be raging now, but remember that the battle is not ours; it belongs to the Lord. We must never lose sight of the fact that we belong to Him and He is the great “I AM.” That statement is always present tense. It’s time for a song!

When I Say Jesus

The sea of life is raging; The storms ‘round me roar

I’m tossed about in turmoil and it’s growing very cold

By myself I cannot make it. But this one thing I know

When I speak the name of Jesus, The storm clouds have to go.

When I say Master, my sorrows disappear

When I say father, He drives away all my fears.

When I say Savior, my blinded eyes can see,

When I say Jesus, He speaks peace to me.[1]

We may not know about the future, but we can be sure that the One to whom we belong holds us in the palm of His hand.

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[1] Unknown

Fear Not

The events of the last few days and weeks have caused much anxiety for the entire world. They have created so much stress, partially, because we are now living in an area of the unknown. We cannot go anywhere, listen to anything or plan anything without being bombarded with the reminded of the virus that is gripping the world population. We try everything to ease the pain of the situation but the fear grips our entire being.

We must maintain hope and not allow the circumstances of life to take away our hope and trust in God. Hope is a very powerful tool in our lives. I like the following quote: “The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish. Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God's fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer's life.”1

The greatest source of hope is written in God’s Word and gives us strength and courage to persevere.

“But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says, "Don't be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up-the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel.”2

The words of this song remind us that we will win in the end.  

“Through so many dangers and toils of this life

I have already come, but He keeps on giving the

Grace and the strength, to just keep pressing on.

He’s given a promise and I’m gonna stand, on

Every word His holy word has said, and holding

His hand I’ll never fear whatever lies ahead.

I’m gonna make it, He’s already said that I would.

I’ll keep on trusting that He’s working everything for my good.

He walks beside me and heaven is in my view,

I’m gonna make it through.”3

My prayer for you today is that the presence of the Lord will be with you and keep you safe from all dangers that try to take our peace away. I ask that You be our shelter and hiding place and build a hedge of protection all around us. We ask this in the Name of Jesus.

      Stay strong; be safe and keep looking up. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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[1] John C. Broger

[2] The Living Bible Isa 43 1-3

[3] The Sisters