2020 A Year of Tumult and Fear
" 2020 A Year of Tumult and Fear," is not exactly a headline I anticipated writing, as the clock struck midnight, ushering in 2020. The first half of the year has passed by like a runaway freight train with no brakes, out of control and headed for a bad ending. As a white knuckled passenger on this "Crazy Train," I realize that it is not out of control at all, but the chief engineer in charge is God. Once you have that perspective the clickety clack of the train going over the tracks becomes a soothing noise and not one of terror.
We are living through a time of political, social, economic, philosophical and moral upheaval, that happens to coincide with a pandemic of biblical proportions. Any of these problems alone is enough to fill your plate. Where do we turn to for advice? There are so many things going wrong, where do we start to untangle the mess we find ourselves in? This hasn't been one day in the making and will not be one day in righting it. Once a train of giant proportions gathers momentum it is very difficult to stop and certainly can not stop on a dime.
Think about it, our country just celebrated our 244th birthday this past 4th of July. Compare this to Israel's history, from Moses and the Ten Commandments to Jesus, a time span of 1443 years. Israel went through cycles of time with Judges, Kings and Prophets making the same mistakes over and over again culminating in the first coming of Jesus. Over and over they forsook the God of the universe for false gods, which led to immorality, social, political and economic corruption, sound familiar? They would relearn the same lesson over and over again throughout their history until finally God used the surrounding evil empires to conquer and disperse them, but still sent a Savior, Jesus. The history of our country is in terms of 100's of years, while Israel's is a millenia plus. Do you think we could learn something here? The parallels of our history and Israel's are striking and should not be ignored. We founded a Nation under God, based on Judeo-Christian principles. We were a God fearing nation of believers. Slowly but surely we have forsaken God and our founding principles. Immorality reigns, marriage, sex, man and woman have all been redefined by a secular culture and courts. Truth itself is under assault and we "do what we feel is right." So, this is the "Crazy Train" we call America in 2020. Do we stand aside and watch our country dissolve before our eyes?
Let us learn from Israel's past and do what they did right, repent and turn back to God, forsake the gods of this world and embrace truth and wisdom that comes from being obedient to God's Word. Learn from their history and ours so that we see what's coming and why. Now is the time to apply the brakes so we don't miss the turn off that brings us safely into the station, or we will find ourselves on the fast track to destruction.