Frozen to Emboldened Faith
A heaviness weighs on my heart as I think of the horrendous tragedies going on within our world every day. It seems the world has gone completely mad, and yet life is still moving ahead.
Where I live, schools and businesses are open, no masks are required, and no vaccine mandates are happening. We have our home, food on the table, we’re able to attend in-person church, and my husband has a stable job that supports our family. To all of this, we give glory to God for our stability and health.
But as I look at the rest of the world, it seems to be crumbling. Each day brings more shocking news. I’m appalled at what is being labeled as “truth”. So much of what this world projects is completely contrary to the actual truth.
I’ve found myself frozen on many occasions. Not sure what to do (or not do) with the state of this world we’re living in. I’ve found myself questioning…
What is my place in all of this, God?
How can I glorify You and not get consumed by this world?
God specifically tells us that our peace does not come from this world. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).
God knows all that is taking place in this world- all of the atrocities and heartaches that we could never bear to truly understand or know. If our hearts ache for even the slightest of these tragedies, how much more does God’s heart ache in all that He sees and knows of His creation?
God instructs us to trust Him and not be afraid. He knows we will be tempted to live in fear. But we are to not live by what we see and hear in this world. We are to live by trusting in the One who came for us and created this world and all that is in it. He knows the beginning from the end. And He loves us more than we can comprehend.
If we are constantly choosing to consume worldly troubles and opening up our hearts to the fears of this world, we will not have peace. For some, like my husband, you may be called to a job or position that brings you to terrible circumstances. You may witness the darkest sides of humanity, but God has equipped you for the task at hand. He has called you to push back the darkness in a very specific way.
For others, you may be called to push back the darkness through nurturing the young minds of children, caring for the elderly, encouraging and building up those in the faith by sending cards or letters. We shine the light of Jesus when we live out the calling God has placed upon us- no matter how small or big. And we can do it any place where God has called us to be- even in isolation.
Our hearts will be tempted to be weighed down by this world, to become frozen. But when we look up to God and what He has done, we will see that The Light has already conquered the darkness. Now we are instructed to walk in that light, boldly (1 John 1:5-7). We are to not let this world trouble us or become afraid (Joshua 1:9). Only God can direct our hearts and minds in this way. This cannot be done by our own free will. Praise God for these gifts of peace and boldness!
The days are so short and there is an urgency in sharing the truth of Jesus with those around us and to build up the body of Christ. The Lord is capable of showing us the areas where we can serve, even in ways we may not have first chosen. He’s able to break our fears so that we can be used to glorify His name no matter the circumstances.
May we actively and faithfully step out to use the wonderful and undeserved gifts from God. Let’s walk faithfully in what He has called us to do.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
So much truth in your words! Thank you, Amber, and God bless you and your family.
Thank you, Debbie. God bless you and your family!
Amber, a very well put perspective or accounting of the severe mounting troubles in this fallen world and a professing of your faith; said in a very clear and concise manner of speaking from someone of Faith!
A fierce wind of deception filled with lies and hate is howling all around us trying to induce fear in all the people and cause them to scatter, become disheartened or lose hope, in order to win them over to man or the science and politics of men (man as god) to be their savior as we have been living in a global fraud meant to accomplish this diabolic act and thus turn even the elect from Christ! I call it the now Beast System which is Anti-Christ that we are all so accustomed to and almost ruled by; and if Biden and his ilk have their way we will be!
I could go on with my view on all this, basically paraphrasing some of the great wisdom that has been delivered to us through the Scriptures and spoken to us by some of the wisest that have come before us. But I just watched a video clip and read some well-done articles about someone who did speak with astounding clarity and I believe God given insight about the time we find ourselves in now where civil and moral order are dissipating at an alarming rate which has been happening for quite some time, but, just for this reference let’s say since 1974 when Archbishop Fulton Sheen was offering his deeply sincere insight which is included in the accompanying video.
https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-ncregister/swp/hv9hms/media/20200828000828_5f483422c2bf74d8cce0abd3jpeg.webp
Sheen stated regarding the antichrist; “his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect.”
“God will not allow unrighteousness to become eternal. Revolution, disintegration, chaos, must be reminders that our thinking has been wrong, our dreams have been unholy. Moral truth is vindicated by the ruin that follows when it has been repudiated. The chaos of our times is the strongest negative argument that could ever be advanced for Christianity… The disintegration following an abandonment of God thus becomes a triumph of meaning, a reaffirmation of purpose…Adversity is the expression of God’s condemnation of evil, the registering of Divine Judgment… Catastrophe reveals that evil is self-defeating; we cannot turn from God without hurting ourselves.”
Sheen did state why such crises and suffering must come— “to prevent a false identification of the Church and the world.” Our Lord wanted his followers to be different from those who were not: I have taken you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19) I say his is exactly what is going on with the political system, aka NWO. But a totalitarian, secular false church based solely on the power of men over God.
“Mediocrity and compromise characterize the lives of many Christians. Many read the same novels as modern pagans, educate their children in the same godless way, listen to the same commentators who have no other standard than judging today by yesterday, and tomorrow by today, allow pagan practices such as divorce and remarriage to creep into the family; there are not wanting, so-called Catholic labor leaders recommending Communists for Congress, or Catholic writers who accept presidencies in Communist front organizations to instill totalitarian ideas in movies. There is no longer the conflict and opposition which is supposed to characterize us. We are influencing the world less than the world influences us. There is no apartness.”
Sheen could have been here now speaking these words about the Christian’s view on family, marriage and societal mores! “Evil must come to reject us, to despise us, to hate us, to persecute us, and then shall we define our loyalties, affirm our fidelities and state on whose side we stand. How shall the strong and weak trees be manifested unless the wind blows? Our quantity indeed will decrease, but our quality will increase. Then shall be verified the words of Our Master: whoever does not gather with me, scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)
Quite compelling and telling to me what the fine Archbishop proclaimed to the world so many years ago! To which I add these additional excerpts of his; “Those who have the faith had better keep in the state of grace and those who have neither had better find out what they mean, for in the coming age there will be only one way to stop your trembling knees, and that will be to get down on them and pray. The most important problem in the world today is your soul, for that is what the struggle is about.”
Fulton Sheen went on to say what the one path out of this time of hardship or perhaps even the final calamity to come! “The only way out of this crisis is spiritual, because the trouble is not in the way we keep our books, but in the way we keep our souls. The time is nearer than you think.”
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:38-39)
https://youtu.be/FuCw8UT5y6c
God bless you and yours.
Brother in Christ Jesus,
Lawrence Morra III
Thank you for sharing, Lawrence. I will have to check out the links. Yes, many will and are being deceived. The light shine brightest in the darkness. God bless you!
Oh yes Sister Amber! So many need to “Wake-Up” and time is growing short at least relatively speaking! As you are fully aware that is why we are told to continually be washing our robes as He will come like a thief in the night! Amen.
I really enjoyed this fine well thought out and written article in which I found you to be inspiring as always! So much so, I was about to go big and reblog, maybe adding even more than I did; but there was no option for that, unless from scratch, so perhaps containing myself to this comment is a good thing, and we got the job done nicely as it turns out; I do believe!
Btw, at the end of the video of Abp. Sheen I found the comments from many Christians of a variety of denomination very nice and quite telling of the respect and love for this man of God! Sort of the way I respond to Billy Graham when I read about him or watch old videos!
https://lawrencemorra.com/2019/07/28/two-men-one-a-servant-of-god-the-other-a-minion-of-satan/
Thank you again Amber!
God bless you and yours!
Brother in Christ Jesus,
Lawrence
Very beautiful, thanks for sharing.
poelandhome
https://www.poelandhome.com
Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁