The most difficult matter of life for the human mind to understand is that God is a person, concerned with your every action. The very hairs on your head are numbered. (Luke 12:7), surely if he knows a sparrows fall he knows your needs.
He is a God of peace, a God of healing, a God of righteousness, a God who provides.
He did not tell any of us that we would get rich, but that He would provide... perhaps not for our wants but for our needs. The spoiled ungrateful, profane society in which we live wants someone, usually the government, to provide for their needs as well as their wants.
The shortest chapter in God's word is Psalm 117. The longest chapter is Psalm 119 (a chapter rich in the history of the Bible, comforting words). The middle chapter Psalm 118th. The middle verse of the entire Bible (Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.)
Everything in the Bible on either side of this verse shows us the truth of this verse. The truth is the truth whether anyone believes it or not. God requires trust and we learn not to put confidence in man.
I believe that 90 percent of Christian faith is just raw courage. God is a person, not an object like a bottle of water. A idol carved of wood, the wood scraps burned.
Early in life, one should learn the personality of God, “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want “(Psalm 23:1)
If it was difficult for the Ephesian Christians to understand the faith of Joshua. As I walked down the streets of Ephesus, I could well understand the difficulty of the 21st century Americans trying to understand the faith of 1st century Ephesians.
In history, we always look backwards. Today's world of computers, cell phones, plasma televisions, jet travel, it is difficult to put flesh and blood on Peter, Paul, Moses, Joshua, even Jesus Christ. God has told us that He does not change. (Malachi 3:6) What He promised us in darkness, we can believe in light. What He promised the old testament patriots, early American pilgrims, the hippies, and even hypocrites of the 20th and 21st century can believe.
If the world survives, and Christ does not return for his own, and I believe that He will soon, those looking backwards to us will do so with either encouragement or disgust.
The courage of every generation in human history has been tested. Those of us who lived through the Great Depression, WWII, have little patience with today's spoiled valueless pretenders of faith... having inherited such a blessed land, preserved spiritual conditions, who cannot take this hard life. WWII, the nation was geared for survival. FDR's four freedoms meant something to us. The constitution of 1787 meant something to us. Kate Smith singing God Bless America meant something to us.
The real men of the nation were involved in the war in uniform or in production. My own father was away from home building military installations, all his brothers building ships in the shipyards. My mother kept her children at home raising, schooling, keeping the farm going. I was the oldest child. I learned early the necessity of livestock care, keeping guard over the family and farm. Retirement, vacation, were unknown words. My old grandparents, like all of the old people of the community and nation, renewed their efforts everywhere.
Such foolishness as Michael Jackson's doctor being paid $150,000 per month just to care for him or Larry Flint (Hustler Mag) offering $1 million for information about Rick Perry's sexual deviations, would have never made the headlines or bothered the psyche of people interested in their nation's survival, their faith in God, family, country. There were more important things to think about.
We do what we do because we believe what we believe. Most of our problems, most of the terrors of the world, comes from “stinking thinking” But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. (Psalm 141:8)
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