Listening

A friend of mine told me that I made it sound like the world was coming to an end in WFTD the other day.

Hmmm My surgery had me handicapped for a few days and confined to lying around on the couch, perhaps I watched too much of the news. Maybe the combination of the bummer that I was on that was induced by the pain after my surgery and watching the news had me more depressed than normal about the sad state of our nation. Or maybe the world is coming to an end.

I’m going horseback riding today and maybe that will put me in a better mood. In writing my book I observed that my life has bounced from tremendous highs to tremendous lows. I note in the book that my fortunes have risen and fallen in direct proportion to my relationship with God. It seems that at different times in my life when I was far from God, it took hitting a very low point to draw me back to Him, be it hitting the bottom of the barrel with drug addiction or alcoholism, prison, facing near financial catastrophe when a group of trusted employees embezzled from our company very nearly drove it into bankruptcy, the sudden death of a loved one, or even the threat of losing my family.

It seems that God used whatever it took to gain my FULL attention and make me realize that He has to be number one in my life; otherwise I would never make it, much less prosper. After several of these difficult, sometimes excruciating lessons spanning decades, I finally got it through my stubborn thick head, and I have not turned my back on God in many years now and I have prospered because of it. (This is not to stay that I do not daily struggle with sin; it is to say that I pray every day of my life and study the Bible at least for a while, and I realize that without God I am nothing.)

I wonder if the problems that plague our nation are similar in nature. Is God trying to get our nation to turn back to Him before it is too late? Or perhaps this is just the natural order of things, in that when God is distant from our priorities, everything in our lives prospers and when we are not, we struggle mightily.

I think maybe both, but certainly the former. I say that because even when we are in sync with God bad things still will happen to us. In my book I relate how my brother committed suicide at a time that I was very close in my walk with God. He did not spare me the most tragic thing that ever happened to me, BUT He did draw close to me and enable me to bear the overwhelming grief that tore into me like a runaway freight train.

As I see all of the enormous problems facing America, I believe God is sending us a strong message that we need to hear Him and turn to Him before we hit bottom like I had to do so many times in my life. After 9/11 Americans poured into churches throughout America, but it didn’t last long and soon America turned away from Him again. I believe He in turn is doing likewise at this moment. I did this in my life, and Israel did it throughout the Old Testament. It seems that history just repeats itself.

Today I will enjoy my horseback ride and I will reflect on all of this in peaceful serenity.

I cannot tell a lie to you. On my ride I will be praying that my grandchildren can stay close to God in the storm that they will face in America, because I admit, I am pessimistic that short of a miracle, America will wake up in time to avoid a fall.

Sorry if this is just more gloom and doom. My hope is that all who read this will draw close to God and stay there and by so doing we can enjoy the prosperous times and survive the tragedies.

God has a plan and His will be done.

Matt.6:9-13
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.