Reason for all Seasons

 

Staying Positive and Hopeful

8/7/25

I have always believed we all should chose to maintain a positive and hopeful attitude even when everything around us reflects uncertainty, deception, contention, semi-controlled chaos and fear of the unknown. Why should we let the world or anything in it control us? The only exception is what God has willed. A Christian person should always have hope, if not so much in this life always in the next. Our attitude and character should shine brightly in this world so that others might desire to follow our example and share the assured hope that we have always had. We know and understand why Jesus Christ came to this earth for the short time of 33 plus years. He came to give us an example of how we are to live our lives and ultimately to sacrifice His life so that we would have the opportunity to follow His example here on earth and eventually live for eternity in heaven with Him and Father God. Do we accept this opportunity or do we live our life in denial, and separated from His love? All it requires of us to be truly set free and follow Him is to surrender our life to His will realizing His plan for our life is so much better than anything we could possibly do in our own strength and understanding. Place your faith, trust and belief in Him. This is called surrendered commitment and once we genuinely decide to do this, and then do it, His Holy Spirit comes to live in us and we will experience encounters. We will be able to share this testimony with others because the evidence of our changed life will be so obvious.

I have become aware through personal experience and other external information sources of the disconnect that so many people have with each other, their family, their country, the world and pretty much everything else in general. So what occupies their minds the majority of the time? Themselves and all things pertaining to the most they can get out of this life for themselves, all related to some type of fear. We live in a very self-centered preoccupied culture, but as in all things there are exceptions and in this knowledge lies positive perceptions and hope. Thank God for those few remnant exceptions. So many of us don’t seem interested in the direction this country and the world is going in. We have all heard over and over the advice to take nothing for granted, and to question everything including the truth which has previously been established through many generations over and over. Why does each generation have to learn the same life lessons over and over? Yes there are new ways and new technology in some areas and for some things but the important life lessons regarding how to live our life in a way that acknowledges our creator/origin by showing our gratitude never change. We know in our hearts what it takes to live in peace and prosperity of the soul. We have a moral compass that has never really changed, and there can be only one truth and to think otherwise is a contradiction. This absolute authentic truth can be found in only one place; the Bible which is the written Word of God.

God allowed us to inhabit this beautiful country in which we all live and enjoy the many freedoms and opportunities it provides. I like to call this country our promised land. No we haven’t always been very good stewards of our land and the original native peoples that were here before us, or the brothers and sisters that followed after us. That is our shame and a stain on this nation but it still isn’t to late to make course corrections. My question is this: Why do so many people think up so many reasons to protest about whatever they feel is an injustice either at home or elsewhere in the world but ignore the most obvious? Look in the mirror and ask what you can do. We can do so much more to rectify the many imperfections and inequalities in our own back yard. Sometimes it’s as if we think our country has the ability to fix all the ills of this fallen world we live in. Well we don’t and we can’t. But just like in our own personal situations if we co-labor with God we can accomplish so much more. My answer to the above question would be that if anyone finds what they consider an injustice anywhere in the world they should travel to that location and peacefully do whatever they possibly can to alleviate that injustice. Doesn’t this sound like a reasonable solution to you? Take action and make a commitment in time, talent, and material. And never forget to pray to God for leadership and guidance. Just don’t blame this country for everything you disagree with here or in the world. Our government has a commitment first to the people of this country yet we do still share in rather abundant ways with many nations around the world. Yes there are many reasons why we share but the fact is we do share our abundance.

So getting back to being and staying positive and hopeful in an environment that is not necessarily conducive to those attributes let’s look at how we can do this. First-We are alive and breathing and living in one of the best countries in the world for exercising freedom and opportunity. This alone should lift our spirits. We can choose to be or not be so many different things in this life. Can you do this elsewhere and have we gone to far with giving people to many choices? What I mean is should people actually have the choice to not work and still have all the benefits and entitlements provided to people who actually participate and contribute to society? Let’s not forget what and who provides those entitlements and benefits. It always seems, at least in my experience, that the pendulum of societal culture can never find an equitable balance, but always over-corrects and swings either to far left or to far right. In many areas of the world people are subject to the whims and wishes of whoever is in the seat or seats of power. Education is non-existent and talent is ignored or wasted. Life is a struggle there and peoples lives are reduced to a matter of hand to mouth survival. And we understand survival is a very powerful instinct. But is this really living? Second-We can choose to worship in the way we choose and be whoever or whatever we want to be. Of course we have to remember there are consequences, good and bad, for every decision we make regarding the choices we make. Our beliefs are ours to believe and they will not be taken away from anyone, even if they aren’t authentic evidence based truth. We have a creator God who, through His grace and mercy has given us all free will choice. He wants us all to believe Him and His Word and be with Him one day but he wants us to come voluntarily. Can we all pray for knowledge, understanding, wisdom and authentic truth? Third-In this country are some of the very best and most advanced medical facilities and staff in the world. We can be treated and cured of many diseases that in other parts of the world the chance of survival is practically zero. We take this for granted because we live here and many of us are not world travelers or have not had a medical condition surface while in a foreign country. We should be grateful, not take this for granted, and never forget that all people in any and every skill or profession have been gifted by God to do the many different things that they do. We have this innate ability at birth and develop the desire as we mature, if given the opportunity. Opportunity is the magic word. All we need to do is exercise that opportunity through study and develop our gifting to become proficient. Fourth-We say we are a country of equal opportunity but are we really? If we are being honest the answer has to be no. If we don’t have equal opportunity we will never achieve equity. And equity in my mind does not mean equity in financial or material wealth, or authority. Equity means satisfaction and contentment with the knowledge that we were all able to make equal lifestyle choices and given equal opportunity to achieve excellence in whatever area we felt gifted to pursue. All people should have the opportunity to go to school or work to develop a given proficiency in something we have the desire to do. All should have opportunities for advancement and the ability to attain wealth and a lifestyle that allows them to have a comfortable life and be able to provide the same for their family. We should be grateful and thank God for everything. God owns everything and we only have the opportunity to steward it well for a short time for our benefit and enjoyment. What is upsetting to me is the fact that so many people don’t take advantage of this opportunity. Not because they can’t but because they won’t. So many only want to sit or stand with their hand extended for any and all entitlements they can get. No ambition, lazy, complacent, entitled with no hope, purpose or future. God can fix this through relationship. Fifth-Artists. God has blessed us with an abundance of gifted singers, musicians, writers, painters, sculptors and other various art forms where people express their hearts through their talents and gifting. They have the ability through their work to show us different perspectives as well as entertain us. They have various genres that speak to most if not all people. What would life be like without these many ways of self-expression and the self examination that they bring about in the people who enjoy their gifts? Sixth-Love. As Christians we understand that God is love and we were all created in His image and likeness. So what does that make us? We are capable of loving others and being loved and we definitely all need and want love. That is actually the greatest commandment in the Bible. We are to love God with all our heart and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. There lies the difficulty for so many people. How do we feel about ourselves? Can we truly say we love someone else if we don’t have a loving attitude and perspective about ourselves? All people were created by God and should love the person he created us to be. We can’t and shouldn’t ever judge a person based on anything tangible or intangible because they also are God’s creation and the way they look, act, live or the position they have in society should have no barring on how we regard them. We have a lot to live up to but we can do it with God’s help. I believe everyone wants and needs to be loved and wants to return that emotion. We can’t really relax and enjoy intimacy outside of a committed relationship with another human being. This is where the fundamental truth of God’s Word (Bible) should answer all our questions.

Love and Peace, Amen

Pastor Walter C. Scott