Devotional 3-23-08

The Good Ole Days
Psalm 118: 5 – 14

We live in a world that threatens us. The influences are many and most appear to be negative. We long for the “Good Ole Days”. They are mythical days where it appears we were less stressed and safer. It is no doubt that we live in a complex and at times a dangerous world. I am not sure it was any better at any other point in history. I think back to when I was a teenager in the 1960s and I thought we had it worse that the 1950s. Then in the 1980s and 1990s when my children were in high school and college, I thought it was even worse than when I was a teenager. Today as my grandchildren are being born, I wonder what obstacles they will face as they move toward maturity.

The psalmist has been stressed. He has attempted to put his trust in princes and other mortals but they have failed him. He is beset on every side. He is being pushed hard. It is a scary time for him. So much for the “good ole days.”

It is a natural and common experience to want to escape our situations. We want to believe that someone had it easier than we do. No matter how advanced we become technologically, we will never find the peace we want outside of a relationship with our God who offers true and lasting peace. I realize that the future for my grandchildren will be no different than it was for their 85-year-old great grandfather. The world offers many obstacles and temptations. As long as we keep our eyes on the prize, as long as we keep our eyes upon Jesus, we will be fine. Lent is a time when we can recognize the times we lost that focus.
We can resonate with the palmist when he said in verses 13 – 14:

“I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.”

It is just as true today as it was in the “Good Ole Days!!”

Rev. David Johnson