July 18, 2024, God Still Is!
“The world is all messed up; the nation is sick; trouble is in the land; confusion is all around. But I know somehow that you can see the stars only when it’s dark enough. And I see God working.” Those words were spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 56 years ago on April 3, 1968. King’s words aptly describe what we see when we read or watch the news today. In the vast darkness hovering over our nation, can we see the stars? Do we see God working?
God Still Is!
“I will trust and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2b, KJV)
Can I just be real? The very thought that the massive mob that violently attacked the U. S. capitol on January 6, 2021, demanding that the vice president of the U. S. be hanged simply for doing his job, could be on the brink of getting their idolized leader, a convicted felon, elected to the presidency again, is deeply disturbing for me. I could go on about how that leader helped to unleash and normalize the baser, uglier, and most vile instincts of humanity while being elevated to the status of a god by many of his followers. These are indeed dark times.
Yet, as King said, only in the darkness can we see the stars. We can also see God working! And He is admonishing us: do not be deceived; don’t get depressed; do not be fearful. In times like these, keep your eyes on God. As Isaiah said, “Behold, God is my salvation” (Is. 12:2a). In that same verse, Isaiah further made three alliterative pronouncements about who and what God is to us in this verse:
First, God is my strength! (God is the joy and the strength of my life) I have the capacity, the power to get things done, to be a blessing to someone else, and lift their burdens because God is my strength!
Second, God is my song! (He moves all pain, misery, and strife.) Depression cannot weigh me down. It cannot overcome me. I have a buoyant spirit and a joyful disposition because God is my song! And with joy, I “draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Is.12:3).
Third, God is my salvation! (I want to go with Him when He comes back; I’ve come too far and I’ll never turn back.) He rescues me from depravity, destruction, death, from the wages of sin. I am fully prepared to face each day and whatever it may bring because God still is!