On January 20th the eyes of the world were set on the inauguration of America's first African American president, Barak Obama. It would seem that millions of people from countries all around the world are looking to President Obama as the individual who can save us from our financial problems, our environmental predicaments, and our international war proliferation. Finally, our countries can get back on track with stability and prosperity, right? Well, time will tell. David Gregory, moderator of "Meet The Press" reported on the disdain and disrespect certain people demonstrated to President George Bush on the day of his departure from the White House. Fatigue from the war effort in Iraq and frustration over the economic crisis had reached a boiling point. But wait a minute, wasn't there a democratic senate helping to make decisions for the U.S. while Bush was in office? Wasn't the lack of regulation for Wall Street taking place while Clinton was in office as well?
We need to understand that the challenges we face today were not created by any one man, nor will they be solved by any one man. It was a collection of greed, mismanagement, and poor decisions which created this mess, and recovery takes time, wisdom, and unified leadership. We need to pray for our national leadership, but we also need to ask ourselves this question: can Barak Obama and the American government assure us that we will be safe, secure, and provided for? The answer is no, only God can. On the day he was sworn into office, President Obama quoted a passage from I Corinthians 13, which states, "When I was a child, I talked like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things." Chapter one of this same book states, "He (God) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus told us in Matthew 6 to "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things (that we need in life) will be added unto you." I believe in these tenuous times God is going to draw more and more people to the reality of His truth, love, and safety. Is your hope and trust in the real savior of the world?
Have you ever felt like you are in a hockey game, getting beaten badly? Maybe you just had "one of those days", where everything seemed to go wrong, for no apparent fault of your own? I have had a few of those days myself, and though they are not enjoyable, I do find peace and assurance in this one important truth; "God works all things for the good of him who is called to His purpose"(Romans 8:28). Consider that statement for a moment - God is using all the events which occur in our lives, both positive and negative experiences, and is bringing good from it all! Now we either embrace and believe this or we don't, but personally I choose to take God at His Word. However, there is an important key to this promise being fulfilled; we must be living daily for Jesus Christ, living to fulfill His purposes, not our own. This is not to say that we have to be perfect; simply surrendered to His will and living for Him with our whole heart. Remember, God isn't so concerned about our perfection and He is our direction - following Jesus every day! Over time we can see how God uses our challenges to bring about something good, although we usually don't see how all of the pieces fit into place - only the Master Builder sees the master plan. Nevertheless, we do see enough evidence to know that God is genuinely at work in our lives, guiding our paths and our footsteps. Psalm 37 tells us that "The steps of a righteous man are ordered by God." What a comfort it is to know that God is directing my life, opening and closing doors, and helping me to fulfill my divine destiny each day!
