Is it true, or does it just seem that way? It seems our communities and nation are “swirling in a whirl pool” of chaos and confusion. Is it not an understatement to say the past year with the intensity of the political campaign and election process, and the three months since, our communities are in turmoil. In Galatians 5:14-16 the Apostle Paul speaks truth when he challenges us–
14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Not only is the political discourse difficult, add to the mix the moral and social confusion, when what is right gets turned on its head, and what was once regarded as wrong becomes commonplace and socially acceptable. Peer pressure pushes people to do and be what was once unthinkable. One of our young adults said in my hearing, “It used to be that the choices of sexual orientation was either male or female. Now there are 58 options.” Sounds rather confusing and chaotic.
People are looking for anchoring truths around which to bring order to everyday life and living. I find great strength in Psalm 90. Allow God’s truth to break into your life. Sometime take time with a good cup of coffee and write on a legal pad some of the anchoring truths for life.
- “Lord, you have been my dwelling place from life’s beginning. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” All else just simply falls away — “You, Lord, are the only truth which ultimately matters.”
- Such Truth stares you in the face— Psalm 90 is a “strong affirmation of trust” in my life — even with all its uncertainties and pain. It is also a “solid foundation of truth” in my life, even when all else in my life is getting “turned upside down.”
- God knows all — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yet, he loves me. The truth is God did not send Jesus to “redeem” us because we are good; rather the opposite — “He loved us while we were still in the depth and despair of the sins in which we find ourselves” — sins of our own choices and the sins impacting us from the choices of others.
- In quietness — Jesus whispers into the depth of our inner souls — “I died that you might live.” My favorite verse of the Bible. II Cor. 5:21: “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
- Not only do we need to receive grace; we need to give grace. As we repent and receive the marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt—we are “hit with the truth” — if we are to experience the forgiveness of our own sins toward God and those who we have wronged, we will need to offer forgiving grace to others who have wronged us. Jesus taught us to pray — “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
- Try this for an anchoring statement in your soul — “My deep and desperate desire to put Jesus at the center of my soul. This day I repent of my own will and my own way. I want to walk with Jesus. I submit to him as Savior and Lord.”
- Sipping on your coffee, put on paper your list of “God’s wisdom” you want to build into the remaining days of your life. Such a day could be a wonderful life changing moment for you. My prayer is it would happen — that healing will come to the center of your
soul.
One of the gospel songs which anchors my soul says it well.
Will Your Anchor Hold?
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift or firm remain?
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move.
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
It is safely moored, ’twill the storm withstand,
For ’tis well secured by the Savior’s hand;
And the cables passed from His heart to mine,
Can defy the blast, through strength divine.