I have been watching what is going on in the world, Lord, and I see it clearly for what it is. I have lived long enough to know that these things do not happen without purpose. There have always been seasons like this, but now it feels like everything is accelerating. Wars continue, nations are divided, economies are strained, and people are searching for stability in things that cannot hold. The noise from the media never stops, and powerful voices keep trying to shape what people believe is true. But I understand this is written and it will be fulfilled, and nothing is outside of Your control.
What I feel is not confusion, and it is not doubt. It is the weight of knowing that strength is required in a time like this. Not just for me, but for my children and my grandchildren. They are growing up in a world far different than the one I knew, and they will need something deeper than what this world can offer. They will need truth that does not change and faith that does not break under pressure. I am reminded that strength is not something we avoid asking for, but something we must be willing to carry, because as John F. Kennedy once said, we are not to pray for easy lives, but to be stronger men.
And I know this, truth has not changed. The truth is still the truth, even if no one believes it, and a lie is still a lie, even if everyone believes it. No matter how loud the world becomes, no matter how convincing the voices of influence may sound, none of it overrides what You have already established. You are still the foundation, whether people acknowledge it or not.
I have seen enough in this life to know where trust belongs. I have seen people place their confidence in money, in leaders, and in systems, and I have watched those things fail time and time again. But I have also seen Your faithfulness remain steady through every season. There were times I could not see the way forward, times I did not have the strength for what was in front of me, and yet You carried me through it. Looking back, I can see You were there every time, even when I did not fully understand it in the moment. That has not changed, and it will not change now. And even when I could not see the full path ahead, I kept moving forward, trusting You one step at a time, knowing that faith does not require full visibility, only obedience to the next step, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, taking the first step even when you do not see the whole staircase.
So I am not shaken by what I see, but I am aware of what is required. I need to stand firm. I need to be steady. I need to carry strength that does not come from this world. My children and my grandchildren will have to seek You for themselves, but I can tell them what my life has shown me, that You are faithful, and You do not fail.
The world will continue to shift, just as it always has. Nations will rise and fall, leaders will come and go, and fear will move from one place to another. I have seen enough to know that none of that is new. What matters is not what is changing around me, but what remains unchanging in You. Your word reminds me that even when we are pressed on every side, we are not crushed, and even when we do not understand everything, we are not without hope. What is happening around us is temporary, but what You are doing within us is eternal.
So I will keep moving forward with You, steady and unmoved. Not because life is easy, but because I know who You are and I have seen Your faithfulness over time. You are still in control, no matter what the world claims, no matter who holds power, and no matter how uncertain things may appear. That is enough for me to stand.
This is why I write these thoughts, so that my children and my grandchildren may one day read them. And it is my prayer that in times like these, they will see what Carol and I believed, and how faithful our Savior has been through every season of our lives, and that they will come to know Him for themselves as we have.