When People Rejoice!

When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2 NIV
Evildoers are snared by their own sin, but the righteous shout for joy and are glad. Proverbs 29:6 NIV
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25 NIV

If we've paid attention to the current unfolding saga occurring in the UK, we can't help but see how impetuous thinking, without consideration of all the probabilities can negatively affect an entire country.

Based upon the interviews I watched (which coincided with other political analysts' conclusions), it was the frustrated masses, the fearful, and the bigoted who voted to leave the EU, while the young people who also voted to leave, expressed regret over having voted in favor of leaving. Those who now regret voting to leave the EU, understand from the fallout, they didn't have sufficient information to make that decision to vote to leave.

Although there are some rejoicing over the outcome, their joy may be short-lived when they realized the predicament they will now have to resolve.

For Americans and other nations, the fall-out was immediately expressed in the uncertainty of what will happen with the downturn of stock market. In spite of the fact that the republican nominee thinks that devaluing the pound is a good idea, most Britons do not. They are facing job losses, security around their borders which will be their responsibility, and the possible loss of corporations doing business in their country.  And it is important to note that not every country in the UK voted to leave the EU. Scotland is determining how they can retain their relationship with the EU in spite of what others have done.

My concern--in spite of what others may think--is that if we allow fear-mongering, bigotry, and outright deceit by a political candidate to sway people into voting for them--we, too, will wake up the morning after the general election in November with deep regrets.

In order not to experience remorse and regret over our one-time vote for a president, we must then pursue seeking truth--all the information we need to make a responsible decision and then consider all the possibilities that will result from our decision. We cannot base our vote on the emotional upheavals generated by those who think they can run a country. We must exercise wisdom and common sense, based on what we see and hear the candidates say, not just the journalists--and then we must be willing to investigate the truth for ourselves.

Here is one example as to why we should listen closely.  The campaign advisors--seeking potential vice-presidential candidates are asking for their "tax returns" when the presidential candidate is refusing to reveal his. That's a bit of hypocrisy. "Show me yours, but I'm not showing mine."

And then we must all realize--with scales off our eyes and ears unstopped from personal attack propaganda and understand--the republican candidate back-pedals consistently because he speaks without thinking or having sufficient information to have a credible opinion. All of the political fact-checkers have refuted most of what he has said about his opponent, but that doesn't seem to stop him. He is also his best publicist! No one says as much about his business acumen or wealth as he does. So, the question we should ask ourselves is--why is that?

I don't know about you, but I'd rather wake up rejoicing the morning after the election in November than to wake up groaning with regret. Only the righteous will understand this sentiment--those who have a right relationship with God--and will continue to pray for wisdom in all things--especially for those in the UK who must now face their dilemmas in isolation.

Where There Is Hope!

For in You, O LORD, I hope;
You will hear, O Lord my God. Psalm 38:15 NKJV

We, mere human beings, place our hope in a myriad of things--and people--and usually when we have placed all of our eggs in one basket--we are eventually disappointed and many are discouraged. Why? Our hope--in things and people--is misplaced. When our hope is totally in God--we are never disappointed--if we are willing to hear and obey.

There were many people who had hopes of winning the billion dollar lottery. We know because of the size of the jackpot and the number of people who had hopes of winning. But the reality is--no matter how many tickets a person purchased, only one was going to win. In this case--three people had the same numbers and shared the jackpot. How many others were disappointed?

And even when we "win" at some things, the victory brings with it other challenges. When professional sports team win a game, the expectation is they will keep winning and when they don't, fans, coaches, teams and owners are disappointed. Why? Their hope was in their individual and collective abilities, but someone had to lose in order for someone to win.

We place our hope in our leaders and are often disappointed when they fail to live up to our expectations and then we seek to replace them. This is especially true when leaders fail to consider the big picture in making decisions about those they lead. The primary example for this misguided hope is the situation that now exists in Flint, Michigan with its water crisis. Trying to save the city money is going to cost--the city, the residents and the governor--when the fallout of using contaminated water is determined. It is already costing the families who live there--those who have ingested lead-laced water.

We place our hope in teachers and educational systems when corruption runs rampant and greed reigns and children are the biggest losers because those in charge--forgot about them. The situation with the teachers in the Detroit Public School system is not new; it has been germinating for decades, but it has finally sprouted and all the ugliness revealed--because it is time to fight back with teachers taking up the banner, saying enough is enough.

This post is not intended to address the political ramifications of corruption and complacency, but to demonstrate how misplaced hope (without God) will always end in disappointment.

Not so with God--in Him--we can rest assured that He will do and accomplish all He says in His Word when we hear and obey Him. The problem is most of us won't trust Him completely and when we try to trust--just a little bit--we are disappointed because we lacked the ability to trust Him completely. Our hope and trust have to be in Him since He is the only constant in our lives. We cannot trust people who don't honor Him and we certainly cannot trust--things--that have no soul or spirit--no conscience or feelings regarding right or wrong.

In You, O Lord, do we place our complete trust and hope, now and forever. For there is none like You who holds our future in Your hand, knowing all there is know about us and yet loving us anyway.