They tell me that the sky is falling.
And frankly, it can be hard not to believe them; the choir of voices out there telling me it’s all going downhill fast: racism, violence, greed, pain, bigotry, selfishness, hatred.
Things are bad, they tell me; the economy is, the government is, the environment is, the teenagers are, the Church is, my breath is.
They plaster this bad news parade across the bottom of my T.V. screen. It comes flooding into my newsfeed. It’s on bumper stickers and t-shirts and in politicians’ speeches, and in all too many pastor’s Sunday sermons.
They say that the culture is falling apart, that decency has left town and that love and peace are endangered species. The tell me that it is awful and it will only get worse.
Sometimes I think they’re right. Heck, I have eyes. I watch the news. I walk school hallways. I see what people are posting. Some days I want to bag it; to throw in the towel, to run fast and far until by breath and body fail. Some days, I want to admit defeat and crumble to the floor, (or just eat cookie dough right out of the tube until I pass-out).
But then I remember; I’m a Christian.
I am reminded that I have a God who started the show, runs the show and will wrap-up the show by tweaking it until it’s perfect and then never stopping-it.
And when my mind and heart settle on that truth, when I can take my focus off of the media storm and the incessant noise of fear and doubt and distraction for just one second, I realize that all is not lost, and I can begin to move again.
If God is who He says He is; if He is a God worth worshiping at all, then I have no right to be hopeless. Pessimism for me, is not an option. Giving-in to the doom-peddlers simply will not do.
Why? God is big.
Bigger than politics…
Bigger than talk show hosts…
Bigger than that jerk on Facebook…
Bigger than economies, governments and personal and national failures…
Bigger than stock market downturns, jobless reports and violence statistics…
Bigger than your mess, my mess, the mess we make together and the mess we find ourselves in.
So, do not believe them when they tell you that the sky is falling, for they have simply forgotten and need to be reminded…
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint
Isaiah 40:27-31
No, my friends, the sky is not falling, for God is holding-up the sky.
Be encouraged.
