Forgotten something?
 

Has there ever been a time in your life when you’ve forgotten about God?

Sometimes people can become so subsumed in their problems that they can’t focus energy on anything else. There are lots of things that can trigger this feeling.
It could be the loss of a job. It could be stress and hostility in the workplace.
It could be the loss of a loved one. It could be the onset of financial problems.
It could be the incarceration of a family member. It could be going through a divorce.
It could be the development of painful health problems, or any number of other things.
Or it could be the plain consequences of a life of rebellion.

There’s a danger that comes with this kind of forgetfulness – it’s the risk of a person slipping into life-paralysis – either based in depression or in fear. I have seen this happen before. People get so bogged down by their problems they become stagnant. They feel hopeless. They just give up.

Isaiah accused the Israelites of doing this (in Isaiah 51:12-13). The year was 550 B.C. and times were rough. The people were stationed in what’s now Iraq (then called Babylon). They had been taken there as slaves when the Babylonians conquered and destroyed Jerusalem. And they were stuck there for almost 50 years. The spiritual feeling among the people was depressed, angry, and frustrated (Psalm 137).

Many of these feelings lurked in America during the Great Depression, but President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told the people: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

My friends, we need to view our fears in the light of eternity, and God’s power. We need to view the cross in light of the resurrection. We need to remember that the evils in the world ultimately will wither like grass. We do ourselves harm when we forget about the power of God. We need to remember that God made everything in the visible world and beyond. If He can handle these things He can handle our problems too.

God bless you --

Andrew McHenry, Pastor