Devotionals

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Good Grief!

Charlie Brown, the comic strip character, helped me get through childhood. Here was a boy like me- awkward, not very athletic, and lacking confidence. He would fail time after time, yet he never gave up, never stopped trying to kick that football, get his kite in the air, or win a baseball game.

As believers in Christ, we must also never give up, even though, like Charlie Brown, it feels like we are on the losing side. Look at America, for example, a country founded on principals of faith. Here suicides are common, lying & cheating politicians, celebrities and sports heroes are everywhere, there are shoot-outs in our streets and murder in our schools, our government wages warfare based on the principal “might makes right”, our media ignores the rest of the world, we watch movies and TV that glorify violence and degrade sex, many of our veterans are mistreated and homeless, we have an increasing obsession with consumer goods that we use to fixate on ourselves, and we worship a god called convenience. And while our neighbors next door and around the world are hurting, many of us use our wealth to isolate ourselves and look the other way.

When the Jews were slaves in Egypt and they grieved over their captivity, God heard their grieving and set them free. In America many of us have also become slaves – slaves to our arrogance, false pride, and self-centeredness. Christians talk about a revival coming to America, yet it doesn't come. Could it be God is waiting to hear our grieving?

Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. –James 4:9

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