From My Perspective - - -
As one looks at the world-scene today, how desperate are the times in which we live? With the upheaval among nations, such as (a) continued unrest in the Middle-East, (b) reciprocal saber-rattling between Israel and Iran, (c) the Financial crisis in Europe, (d) with a continuing recession in the United States – have we crossed the threshold and entered into desperate times? What does the financial news of yesterday mean for us and the world: “Moody's Investors Service dealt a fresh blow to the financial sector, downgrading more than a dozen global banks to reflect declining profitability in an industry being rocked by soft economic growth, tougher regulations and nervous investors. The move hit five of the six biggest U.S. banks by assets, including Morgan Stanley, which had mounted a campaign to persuade Moody's not to cut its rating by three notches. It was downgraded instead by two. The lower ratings are likely to raise the companies' borrowing costs and affect how they raise capital, and could deprive some banks of trading revenue…”?
Some of the definitions for “desperate” include: (a) having an urgent need; desire (b) leaving little or no hope; very serious or dangerous (c) extremely bad; intolerable or shocking… Do these definitions describe the unemployed and under-employed in our nation? Do they describe those who have had to endure foreclosure and losses on their property investment? Does this describe how recent university graduates may feel when they cannot find entry-level work opportunities in the field of their expertise? There are the fading memories of The Great Depression of the 1920s - 1930s and the impact that had on individuals, families and the nation. There is also the fading memory of The Great War (World War II) and the national restrictions and rationing of basic supplies as the War effort was pursued. Were those times more or less desperate than the current world situation?
In Deuteronomy 28:49-59, there is a description of desperate times brought on by (a) the Lord being ignored by the people and (b) the Lord’s judgments upon their disobedience. Verses 56-57 give the sense and gravity of those times: “The most gentle and sensitive woman among you…will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.” Lamentations 4:9-10 echoes this same plight at a later date: “Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field. With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.” When the King of Aram had besieged Samaria, we read in II Kings 6:26-29, “As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, Help me, my lord the king! The king replied, If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the wine-press? Then he asked her, What's the matter? She answered, This woman said to me, Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son. So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, Give up your son so we may eat him, but she had hidden him." The plight of this woman was further compounded when she sought help from the secular government, It was desperation upon desperation!
Will the world in which we live become this desperate? Will people in our world resort to similar behavior? Can “civilized” people become so desperate that civility and morality are jettisoned and survival at any cost becomes the dictum of life? If or as desperate times increase and we are surrounded by greater numbers of desperate people, I hope we can remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:31-34, “do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Jesus wants us to keep looking to Him and to live/walk in obedience to Him. Consider these things with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment