light in the dark

 I've been listening to Allen Jackson again, and he said something that stuck in my mind: "One of the reasons we find ourselves in this mess we're in is we've stopped imagining the promises of God were necessary and we started accepting the promises of a government." In another sermon, he pointed out that the only way for darkness to increase is for the light to diminish.

We are living in an incredibly dark time right now, and it just continues to get darker. And as much as we would like to blame all those who are against God, this mess isn't their fault. It is ours--the people who claim to be followers of Christ, who have decided that it's okay for us to hide our light under a bushel.

I'm not ignoring all the political upheaval happening right now. In fact, I'm probably paying more attention to it than I really should be--the chaos and lies have me distracted more than I would like to admit. I fully believe that we are in for more than most of us can even imagine in this election cycle, chaos so much worse than what we've seen in the past few days of a failed assassination attempt and a sitting President who dropped out of the race via a social media post. We are being lied to and manipulated on a daily-- hourly-- basis. In the midst of that, though, there is one thing that stands true:

"When trouble surrounded me, I cried out to the Eternal;
    He answered me and brought me to a wide, open space.
⁶ The Eternal is with me,
    so I will not be afraid of anything.
    If God is on my side, how can anyone hurt me?
⁷ The Eternal is on my side, a champion for my cause;
    so when I look at those who hate me, victory will be in sight.
⁸ It is better to put your faith in the Eternal for your security
    than to trust in people.
⁹ It is better to put your faith in Him for your security
    than to trust in princes."
(Psalm 118:5-9, VOICE)

There isn't a human being on the face of the earth in whom we can place our trust. There's no political candidate who is going to ride in and save us. There's not somebody coming to turn our country around and fix all the problems (though none of those are reasons not to vote). If we as followers of Christ don't stand up and speak out against the evil that's being allowed to flourish in our nation, we will see it continue to spiral into darkness.

If we believe God's word, that means we believe that God determined when and where we should live. That means, like Esther in the Persian Empire, we were born for such a time as this. Each and every one of us has a role to play in God's plan, and we have to stand and fight. We have to stop hiding, because it is only the Light that can push back the darkness.