Tensions

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Joshua 1:9     Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Psalm 23:1-4     The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name/s sake.  Yea, thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 55:1-3     Give ear to my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.  Attend to me, and hear me;  I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they bring down trouble upon me, and in wrath they hate me,

Psalm 56:9-11     When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.  In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me

Psalm 94:19     In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul.

Proverbs 3:5-6     Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths

Isaiah 41:10     Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand

Matthew 6:25, 34     Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? . . . .Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.     

Matthew 11:28-30       Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you sould.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Luke 12:29-32      And do not seek what you should eat or dr–what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows you need these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.  Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 

John 14:27     Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Philippians 4:6-7     Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God: and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 3:16     Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way.  The Lord be with you all.

 

The past few months have been stressful.   In early February, while my family and I were in Florida for a memorial service, it was reported all government employees had to report how they spent their week by midnight of that Friday night.  The threat was if no report was received, then the employee would be considered fired, not interested in retaining their job.   The bosses were immediately contacting all their employees trying to calm down the sudden fear, questions, and most told the employees, “Do nothing right now.  Let us all figure out what is going to be happening.”  The unease was left behind like soot.  

What was all this about?  Many government employees from different agencies had overnight lost jobs, more were sounding like it was possible they would be losing theirs, and different directives and orders, news reports were all reporting things that contradicted, threatened, and caused general unrest among many governments personnel.   It left huge uncertainty for many.  Which order or demand should they follow?  Would they lose their jobs?  Certainly, the demand sounded urgent and threatening, but confusing; which do you follow?  Who is leading this immediate closing of buildings, government offices, and what about all the people these different offices handle to help citizen with questions?

How do you pay rent/mortgage/bills if you will not be getting paid?  How do you supply food for your children, buy medications that are needed, and the stress confusing and palpable.   With no word of warning, anxiety was rampant.  Tariffs were going to be put on all sorts of items coming into the US, well, that is a certainty that all products–food, building supplies, electronics, and about everything, would skyrocket.  How comforting that is/was for those on a fixed income!   But the rash promises and threats continued, and our country was tossed into confusion and stress.

Immediate differences were noted at grocery stores, gas pumps, and so forth.  Most citizens tried to sit tight, with the slightest frown as they tried to understand the dialogue and immediate closing of government services.  Dept of Education?  That is no longer needed?  Museums–again, educational facilities which received a huge bit of attendance in DC by multitudes of people from many different countries.   And as the courts tried to halt some of this, and do their part of the constitution to maintain balance, suddenly, that was not working either.   What happened to our three branches of government to control when things jumped out of hand?   As I write this it is not quite a year, January 20, 2025–today is Nov 17,2025, and government was closed for more than a month.  Folks lost SNAP benefits for a while, government employees had to go out to get loans to pay for monthly bills–mortgages, food, and then medical benefits were discarded.  I realize that many living in Washington are basically unaware of what the working class needs to maintain a roof over their heads and the heads of family, they are not hit with rising food costs, they have medical insurance and do not worry about the cost of it.

But many of the people who voted to put these men and women into office DO need benefits and assistance from the government now.  Medica costs have sky-rocketed, food goes up all the time, clothing is more expensive, and shoes…..Well, the lists go on, and for those with young growing children it requires a good head and maintenance program to keep all budgeted.    One of the other frightening things to happen is to see ICE agents waving a car over and ripping a person or persons out of the car.  We do not see that here, but it is prevalent in some of the other states–and reports by family members who have witnessed it often, they say it is unnerving and no one knows what to expect next.   After several months of witnessing this happen in areas I lived and grew up, and having my family comment with worry and strain in their voices, let me know I was quite a bit more sheltered than they.   I am not advocating any illegals be getting benefits; but this seems far more stressful than necessary.  

I also don’t feel that we should vote for higher funds to “go” to medical costs.  Does it really.  There is a huge variance in what medical facilities and medical personnel charge.  Let’s look at stopping the costs–insurances, tops that can be charged for procedures–and they should be standardized.  There are other manners to control rather than pouring more money into the bucket–and who is monitoring the buckets of funds?  I am no longer confident.  

Then, travel and its stress and headaches for those frequent fliers–business people who travel sometimes to several cities within one week–with delays, arriving to meetings late, not able to get home on the evening projected and sometimes then getting only thirty-six or so hours of a weekend.   It is tiring, stressful, and insufficient time to recover from work and travel.  Then, with the stress of airlines and air traffic controllers, military families fearful of not being paid, travel increased in its stress of travel.  It is just a tense filled time with a lot of uncertainty and wondering what is next?  What are the safeguards?  Are there any?

I am dismayed to see the negative things that have occurred the past several months.  But, I recently read that God places those He wants to be in charge.  That set me back for a while, the first day I read it.   But in the end, God is glorified.  At the end of WWII when the Jews and others were freed from the atrocious “working camps” in Germany, God was glorified–even by the Jews.  They were grateful to finally be freed–they no longer faced starvation, gas blocks and experimentation.  No matter what stress and fears that edge into our lives, we need to remember WE BELONG TO GOD.  He has a plan for each of us.  And because of that — our knowledge that we are His adopted heirs — and He has a plan for us; a plan to prosper and not to harm.

And yes, Jesus said before He was killed that His followers could expect troubles and tribulation.  We need to find comfort in these uncertain times and know that we belong to God, and we are His.  So, even with uncertain, stressful times, we should find comfort in knowing that we have a future.  That is a comfort.  The Bible reassures us God is always with us, and He wants what is best for us.  That does NOT mean there will not be difficulties, hardships, loss and so forth.  It does mean God wants to see how we will deal and trust Him during these difficult time.

So, my God and Creator, I thank You.  You have used the Holy Spirit a few times over these past few weeks–showing me that God chooses our leaders–not always good men, but in the end, we recognize our sins, repent, and God is glorified by our renewal of His greatness, Love, Grace, and Mercy.   Thank You, my Lord for all you have done for me and  “mybellaviews.”