This week’s news includes the unspeakable tragedy of the downfall of Afghanistan, where many of our military men and women lost their lives in a 20-year war. We didn’t technically lose the war. The Biden administration chose to abandon the Afghan people and we gave everything away to the enemy, no questions asked. As many as ten thousand Americans and people who worked for our government are still trapped there at the airport, needing rescue, and Afghans have died in a panic or have been killed already, trying to escape the brutal regime to come. This is a humiliating national disgrace.
Also, we received an answer from our County Commissioners, concerning what they thought about our request for them to rectify our storm sewer problem. They said that, unlike the roads in small towns such as ours, the storm sewers would only be maintained by the County if the property owners brought them to a functional condition. In other words – you go first: we’re not going to help.
If the Lord tarries ... This is a phrase that is used in the same way as “God willin’ and the Creek don’t rise,” – which is a reference to a possible uprising of the Creek Indians. And whenever either are used, they mean, if nothing unusual happens, we will do thus and such.
The truth of the matter is, nobody knows how long we will be on the Earth. But as for Eric and me, probably we’ll do well to still be around here another twenty years … if the Lord should indeed tarry. What could go wrong?
Already much has gone wrong. I could elaborate on the misfortunes which have befallen our great nation due to the incompetence of the man at the helm and his evil cohorts – those who are making him talk. But I will list only a few. That should be sufficient.
The national debt is burgeoning like Almanzo Wilder’s prize pumpkin, leaving our nation potentially bankrupt in short order. This is not only affecting us personally, most likely in the form of social security insolvency, but it will also affect our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren. The probability is strong that they will inherit this debt plus much more.
Children as young as two years old are having their faces covered so that they cannot learn to recognize even the simple, smiling face of a friendly stranger in a store, or hear properly enunciated words in their native tongues. They are becoming anxious – yes, mentally unstable! – and many have a strong feeling that if they emerge from the mask they will die or kill somebody. They are being deprived of the oxygen they need to think clearly and make decisions.
We have sold much of our nation’s resources to those who wish to conquer us. We have seen the aggression of Communist regimes around the world, especially the Chinese Communist Party, but have chosen to enrich them with our factory orders so we can get cheap goods. We are leaving our birth country in the hands of hostile strangers, and when we are gone, our children will still be here.
Predators have been kidnapping children as if they are harvesting a crop, to sell on the open market as consumer goods, and it’s not just illegal aliens or young Asians – it’s little kids at Wal-Mart whose parents look away for a few minutes. Our own children could be victims.
Many of our older children will be ostracized from higher education, fired from their jobs, denied access to public transportation, or kicked out of restaurants unless they submit to being guinea pigs in a worldwide pharmaceutical experiment.
And, these are conditions right now! What will things be like in 2022, or 2023? – if the Lord tarries? We read about King Hezekiah, who by God’s mercy was granted fifteen more years of life, only to give away government secrets to a future enemy. When chided by the Prophet Isaiah because he had just put national security in jeopardy, he shrugged. Well might you ask, “What was he thinking!” But the Scriptures tell us exactly what he was thinking:
“Oh well, it won’t happen in my lifetime, so it’s okay, it doesn’t matter.”
As prophesied, the Babylonians later attacked and conquered the Kingdom of Judah, and it was not a good experience. Hezekiah was safely out of the way, but his children, born during that fifteen-year grace period, suffered for it. What made him think so little of his legacy?
One of the books in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia deals with the search for Prince Rilian, who had been kidnapped by a wicked witch. If you’ve read it, you know this is the son of King Caspian of Narnia, who is dying, not knowing where his son and heir has been taken. Jill and Eustace, two children from our world, have been tasked by the Great Lion Aslan, to find the Prince and bring him back.
On their journey, they encounter a strange marsh creature, kind of like Phil Robertson, but who always has something negative to say. His name – Puddleglum.
It doesn’t take long before the children ignore ol’ Pud’s advice entirely, or even purposely do the opposite, only because they don’t like to hear so much negativity. So, perfectly good, wise counsel is discarded and the children end up in an ever-worsening situation.
I won’t tell you all of the details because I really want you to read this book – The Silver Chair. But one scene has always stood out to me. The witch is engaged in enchanting the two children, Puddleglum, and the Prince (again!), with something she has thrown into the fire. Then she begins to tell lies, outrageous lies, about how there is no sun and no moon – until the children begin to parrot her words like CNN fans. “There is no sun. There is no moon.”
It is Puddleglum who saves the day, after their half-hearted, half-drugged attempts to argue with the witch have failed. He stomps on the fire with his bare feet, putting it out and leaving the victims blinking back the grogginess. He has scorched his feet, but they are in their right mind.
Right now, in 2021, our culture is under a spell, and it is satanic in origin. We are being taught, collectively, that America is bad, sin is good and even preferable to virtue, and God is irrelevant or non-existent, or perhaps even malevolent. Our children are parroting the words, believing their teachers and Dr. Ouchie, and ignoring their parents because they are “too negative.” How will we combat this? Are we willing to fight to our own hurt to save the children?
Be brave and true, dear friends! Be like Puddleglum!
I’ve also been accused of being too negative. Would that I didn’t have to! What is going on in our world is disheartening, wicked, wrong-headed. We are not on a slippery slope – we are in a downward plunge, a nosedive. At some point we will crash.
All of God’s prophets were also accused of being negative. And they were punished by those who were not happy with their negativity – being thrown into a pit or a dungeon, or even beheaded.
In 1 Kings 22:1-28, we read the story of Micaiah, a Puddleglum-type prophet whom King Ahab said he hated – because he was always so negative. He alone prophesied catastrophe, while 400 others prophesied victory for Ahab in battle. Needless to say, Ahab went to battle – and he was killed.
We must care about our children enough to tell them the Truth, even when it’s hard.
Here are some things we should be doing all the time, whenever we can.
Pray for your legacy. Some of us have children who have strayed from the straight path. They have become addicted to drugs, they have committed crimes, … they are breaking our rules and breaking our hearts. But all of our children need prayer, especially in difficult and doubtful times like these, whether they have strayed or whether they seem to be doing just fine. So often we may think they’re doing just fine and then find out later that they aren’t.
Talk to your children and your children’s children. Teach them the truth. Make sure they are not ill-informed or only educated by Mr. Google “Do-No-Evil.” Bring them to church / Sunday School. Lead by example and teach them God’s Word. If you are a dedicated follower of Christ, chances are good they will also be a dedicated follower of Christ.
"Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
~Deuteronomy 11:19
Bless them. If your children are gifted in some way, encourage them in their gift. There is enough going on in today’s world to make them sad and unsure of the future. You can be a beacon of light to them by assuring them that God loves them, you love them, and you are rooting for them.
Fight for them. If your children are under a mask mandate, or even some kind of shot mandate, they as minors don’t have the same rights that an adult would have. You must be the one who fights for them. You must stand up to any tyrants or bullies, maybe attend school board meetings and make your voices heard – and you might need to protect them by pulling them out of school, for instance. Keep that as an option.
You will likely meet resistance. It can hurt to engage the enemy. Some people were recently hurt by Antifa simply because they were conservative Christians having a picnic.
This is where you might need to be a hero like Puddleglum. Do not be content to just be sad. Remember, Jesus was hurt when He stood in for us. Can we stand in for our legacy?
Furthermore, and this is important, will we still stand in for them and fight for them if they are the ones who hurt us, because they, like Prince Rilian, are already under the evil spell of the enemy?
Plan ahead, because you won’t be here forever. When I was young, there was a policy in the Girl Scouts that you should always leave an area in better shape than it was when you arrived. “Policing” the area meant picking up trash. If you left gum wrappers all over the ground, you would eventually have to bend over to pick up after yourself, so … it was less effort to throw them away when you first unwrapped the gum!
When we leave, what will the next generation inherit? We cannot clean up all that has been messed up during our lifetime. That would be impossible. But can we police our own area? How can we improve the lives of our future generations, right where we live?
How is God speaking to you? Did you know you don’t have to be an accomplished speaker, a PhD, or a licensed activist to make things better for those who come after us? Do you know that God, through His Holy Spirit, can speak through you if and when the occasion arises – and of course, if the Lord tarries?
Right now, yes, we’re still going to be working on the water heater / storm sewer project. But also, we’re praying hard for our future generations, our legacy. They are growing up in a tough time. But they need to understand that in times like these, we can look up expectantly. For our redemption, our Redeemer Jesus, is standing by.
And He will not tarry forever.
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