Just Do It

Just Do It

"Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God;
Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
And I've seen a lot of faces,
There've been times I felt so all alone;
But in my lonely hours,
Yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus let me know that I was His own."

-Hymn "Through It All" by Ray Boltz

Those of you whose faith has not been challenged, who do not understand, who think that life is just a mess, just relax, its going to get worse.

You must put flesh and blood on the people of history to make sense of things. The first Jew, Abraham, and his wife Sarah, both nearly 100 years of age, thought they would have no children. Sarah allowed her hand maiden, a pagan Egyptian princess, to bare a child by Abraham named Ishmael. Jealous-bitter, Sara, made Hagar's life so miserable. She escaped into the wilderness, proclaiming, "Thou God seest the" (Genesis 16:13). This is the message of the ages to believers. One of the greatest prophets of Israel, Samuel, believer, hacked King Agag into pieces. (1 Samuel 15:33). God told the children of Israel to kill most of the 7 nations living in the promise land of milk and honey.

The pagans standing on the walls of the fortress city of Jericho, having already heard about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, Jordan River, on dry land, must have looked with amazement as these nearly 3 million people marched around their city, not saying one word. God had only spoken to Joshua, how and when to march and for every person to keep their mouth shut. But, they had reason to obey God, all their elders had been buried in the wilderness for not pleasing God. So, it did not surprise them when the walls of the city fell...only the many pagans living in the city.

It is not ours to question God's ways, "For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Ours is to trust and obey (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Cosmo girl, Helen Gurley Brown, died last week at age 90. Born in 1922, there were not many options for women and she never let us forget it. Like Gloria Steinem, "Outrageous Acts of Everyday Rebellion" and Betty Freidan, "The Feminine Mystique" they had a bone to pick with society, the culture which had produced them. There are many critics of women liberation but the son of an uneducated, hardworking, tax paying, God fearing, mother and grandmothers, understands. My grandmother's were not allowed to vote until 1920. Although willed land by their family, must have a husbands name on the deed, could only inherit a child's share of a husband's estate. Until Jesus came, women were no more than slaves, are still no more than slaves in Muslim countries. This writer has traveled through most Muslim countries, women on the streets, totally covered..peeking through a veil over their face. (Many veils look like lace curtains.) There are never women clerks in stores, you do not see women driving vehicles. Muslim women are not allowed to go to male doctors, associate with males. It was on television, the King of Jordan's death, his wife, Queen Norah, was not allowed to attend his funeral although women leaders from throughout the world were there.

In cancer treatment, impossible to kill just 90% of cancer tissue. A nerve fiber responds to stimuli, 100% or not at all. (Physiology, all or none law) In every world culture, every society, women have proven themselves 100%. There are more women in colleges than men. Women doctors, lawyers, accountants, airline pilots, etc. My youth, 80 years ago, women did not have much choice, school teaching, nursing, scrub women in buildings. My 5th grade teacher, (my father was school board chairmen) Vivian Buffalo, after working her way through college, cleaning the dining hall, etc. was paid 85 dollars a month. Yet to this day, on a plane, one does not want to hear a woman's voice saying, "This is the captain speaking." Or, a women coming into the examining room saying, "I am your doctor."

There has never been a statue to a critic. Before we criticize women, lets remind ourselves of what a mess men have made of this world. Put forth the best version of yourself. Whatever your challenge, just do it.