Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
-Psalm 42:11
I’m finding myself very distracted these days. If I’m honest, I would say even discouraged, or as the Psalmist says, “downcast.” This has been a year like no other. As I’ve ridden the waves of emotion over the last 9 months, I’ve been able to get my balance back by anchoring my soul on the One who brings the calm. The waves come and go, but I’ve been able to always find my balance when I turn to Him. I will confess that the election has really rocked my balance. This added adversity this year has had me running to seek information and gather all the necessary updates I can in order to allow me to achieve a peace that I’m so desperately chasing right now. What is going to happen? What will be the outcome? I keep thinking this person or that person will be able to give me some insight so I can know that justice will prevail. However, I realized something profound—my peace has left.
I usually start my day with reading the Word and spending time in prayer. Slowly but surely, I found myself looking at the latest headlines or updates to see if anything has changed or happened. I then get sidetracked as the day goes on, still wondering if I can hear from someone that it’s going to be okay. I’ve been fasting and praying for months this year, as I’ve poured out to God my concerns over the pandemic, the state of our country, my loved ones, and as I see the signs rapidly falling into place all around us that the Lord’s return is near. While a food fast can be good and is the more typical way of fasting, I realized that what I needed was an information fast. While the people I have been looking to are respected, trustworthy people, and even some are godly men and women, they are not God! They are not the Lord Jesus Christ who shed His blood on the cross for our sins and secured a place in eternity with Him forever. They are not the God of the universe.
As Daniel says:
“Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light. –Daniel 2:20-22
I realized that I was losing my peace since I was spending more time listening to the men and women speaking on earth instead of spending that time listening, through prayer, to the God of the Universe. We can lay our prayers before Him, and we are to do that as we intercede on behalf of our country and the many people fighting for our democratic republic, but, ultimately, it is God who will decide, and we can trust Him no matter what. Like the Psalmist says, “Why are we downcast (discouraged)?” We need to “put our hope in God and praise Him because He is our Savior and our God!
For me, I know the Lord is calling me to take a break from the noise of the world and to wait upon Him. He is still working both on a collective level and an individual level, and if we focus too much on one without taking stock of the other, we will miss out on what He is doing in us as we endure these challenging times.
The Bible tells us exactly what is going to happen at the end of the age, and we can see all around us that that time is fast approaching. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
-2 Timothy 3:1
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. —Matthew 24:29-30
If you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, please consider it soon! For more information on how to do that, click this link:
If you want to know more about the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ (two different events), click this link: https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-Rapture-Second-Coming.html