Good Thursday morning! I have been in the doldrums so to speak for the past couple of weeks. However, that is passing, the wind is returning to my sails and the ship is moving on! Have you ever given in to despairing thoughts? I suspect all of us at one time or more have given too much credit to our own understanding; exactly the thing that God told us not to do! We look at the economy or the news about the economy and make some prediction based on our own fears and worries, one more thing God told us not to do. We might also listen to the whispers of the Accuser; another thing we have been told not to do. How do we find ourselves in these predicaments so often? Simple, instead of looking to our Captain and His Word, we look at the storm off to the side of our ship or we look at the storm inside our minds.
When a ship is at sea, especially back in the days before radio and satellites, a storm might appear over the ocean. That storm might look huge, dangerous, and threatening, but it might also pass off to one side. The storms will come, but that doesn't mean they will strike us. Jesus might steer our ship away from the storm, or he might meet it head on. However, in either case He is the captain and that means He is responsible for getting us to our destination. I like the metaphor of the sailor and ship in speaking of our Christian life and, as you can read today, Pastor Rogers did too. We are not adrift in this voyage, even though it might seem so at times. I felt adrift for a period, but that was a period of rest and waiting on the Lord. The ideas for writing have returned and the stories are coming together. Praise God and to God be the glory!
Lately, I have started reading a biography of Adolf Hitler. Not to worry, the man is not a hero of mine by any stretch of the imagination. What I wondered is how someone who seems so evil to us now, could gain so much power and be a hero to so many people in that time. We like to think that such a ruler could not rise again in this day of information and "smart" people. We are wrong. The Bible points to the rise of a person who will be much worse. So how did this particular leader get started? The first thing the author points out is that his father, Alois, changed the family name from Schicklgruber, which, the author notes, would not have quite the same ring as Hitler. It would have been difficult for anyone to come to power with the cronies yelling "Hail Schicklgruber!" Imagine trying to become a charismatic new leader when your audience is doubled over in laughter.
Historical amusement to start the day! God bless you!
Bucky
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