Circumstances May Let Us Down, But God Is Always With Us To Lift Us Up!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(6) <Moses said to Joshua,> “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. … (8) The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”’ (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8)
Today a gentleman, Jimmy Lai, is on trial in Hong Kong on charges of sedition and conspiracy due to publishing a newspaper that provided an opposing viewpoint of the growing Chinese clampdown on the freedoms once enjoyed in Hong Kong when it was a British Crown colony, before Hong Kong was handed over to the People’s Republic of China in 1997.
It is understood that Mr. Lai is under much stress and his health has worsened while incarcerated (he has been held since being charged in 2020), as the charges, if convicted, brings a sentence of life imprisonment. It is possible he could win and be released, though it is unlikely as the Chinese legal standards (guilty unless proven innocent) are now part of Hong Kong’s legal standards, and the freedoms once enjoyed in the former Crown colony have been removed by the totalitarianism of communist rule.
Certainly, for many Hong Kong residents, this has been a letdown of circumstances; what was once enjoyed is now no longer permitted. The circumstances that many lived under or prepared for have changed for the worse. No one likes it when change occurs or when our plans are no longer valid when circumstances beyond our control change. For Hong Kong, the circumstances they lived in in 1996 changed dramatically on 1 July 1997, when Communist China took control.
We can be letdown in our circumstances, by others in our life (whether friends, family members, other Christians, our auto mechanic, and more), or by our own selves. We are creatures of habit and dislike change, yet we also abhor when things become mundane and we do the ‘same old same-old’. We get discouraged when we’re expecting a donut for breakfast and get an egg sandwich instead. We are thankful a hurricane misses us, but there can be a letdown if we’ve ramped up preparations and it now seems for naught. (Don’t worry, another will be coming, so stay ready.) We often need to get the last word in during a disagreement – and feel good about it, then have remorse on what we said. All these things happen often to all of us during our lives.
It happened in the times of Moses. The Hebrews were quite the characters as they left Egypt. They bickered on when they would leave Egypt, they bickered when they left Egypt, they bickered before the Red Sea opened and they bickered after crossing through it. They bickered over not having food or water, then they bickered over getting manna and quail to eat. All of this in the direct presence of God, by fire at night and by cloud in the morning. They saw and heard the presence of God on the mountain when Moses went up to get the Ten Commandments, and they still chose to make a golden idol to worship over God. I’m sure Moses wasn’t too happy that they had to do another forty years of wandering in the desert.
Then Moses himself must have felt that he let God down when he forgot to give God the glory when he got water out of the rocks for the Hebrews, and was told by God he would not enter the land of Israel. But Moses did not give up, on the Hebrews or himself, or on God. He persevered and led the Hebrews to the Jordan River. Moses knew that despite the Hebrews bickering and his own failings God stayed with them. Neither God or Moses threw up the hands and said ‘I’ve had it!’. Sometimes we get tired of what we have to endure, but we must endure and we can endure with God by our side. No matter what we do, or what situation we find ourselves in, God is with us – He doesn’t give up, and neither should we.
Not all of us are facing equal storms. Mr. Lai’s storm is far more serious than any I am currently facing, and some of you may be facing storms in your finances, your family, or your health that are very serious, perhaps more serious than Mr. Lai’s, as well. Others may be more like me, as the storms are at their ebb and things seem to be good. However, we all either are in a storm, approaching a storm, or getting out of a storm. Regardless of our situation, we need to be strong and courageous, knowing that God is with us, both watching over us and indwelling within us. It is not in God’s plan that we will avoid changes in our circumstances but that we will face them in Faith that He will see us through them.
As Christians we have the Holy Spirit who is our direct connection with our Father, and with our Lord Jesus. Everything we endure we endure with God. God-math dictates that God + you = a majority in any situation. Stay the course, pray for direction, and keep your chin up!
