Desperation & Salvation

"The problem is that the situation is desperate but we are not" 

des·per·ate  /ˈdespərit/

Adjective Feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with.

Think back to a time in your life where a situation came up at home, with your kids, or at work. Maybe it started out manageable but slowing increased to the stage of urgency. The phrase "desperate times call for desperate measures" means something different to each of us. Maybe you've had to pawn something meaningful just to eat or pay rent. Maybe you've been off work for so long that you had to take a horrible job just to make ends meet. Maybe that fight with your teenager quickly escalated from being grounded to taking away everything they owned to make them understand you mean business. Whatever the case, I can assure you that you went thru a number of steps before you hit the 'desperate stage'. By the time you were there though you didn't care what you had to do...you just knew you needed to do it. At some point in your life your response to a situation has been "I'll do anything!!!" which is true desperation. 

Tony Robbins said "In life you either need inspiration or desperation." What an incredibly true statement. In either case, it's something that gets you going. Something that causes you to listen more intently and take action. In life I can see where God has tried to inspire us with all the wonderful things that he has to offer. I'm sad to say though that due to a lack of action on our part, I truly believe He has hit his 'desperate stage' with us. At this point, He's doing whatever He needs to do to get our attention. There is so much hate, lack of faith, and evil in this world. We ignore the inspiration and become jaded to things around us, accepting terrible circumstances as if they were normal. In many cases we walk around with this sense of entitlement like life is supposed to be easy no matter what.  All you have to do is turn on the news or go out in public and it's there - Hitting you in the face like a ton of bricks.  Did you know that..... There are over 15,000 murders in the US each year - That's an average of 41 murders a day Over 85,000 people are raped in the US each year - That means 232 people A DAY 8.7 MILLION people are robbed each year - many cases involving assault  17.2 million households (that's 1 out of 7 families) are without food in the US  46.9 million people live in poverty in the US  But it doesn't stop there..... In 2011 it was reported that there were a record number of tornadoes, floods, rampant earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis One source reports that natural disasters have gone up more than 400% in the past two decades  A reporter for Geologic and Earth Changes Newsletter says "Our top scientists seem to be at a complete loss to explain what's happening. It just seems like there is one disaster or emergency right after another" STORY TIME...

Let's say you and your friend are sitting on a park bench together and in the distance you see a remote control plane flying in the air. You turn to your friend and say "Hey, look at that plane" but they ignore you. A few minutes later you notice it's flying a little lower and a little closer so you nudge your friend this time and say "Hey, we might want to move - that plane is getting a little too close for comfort" but they ignore you. Not long after you have warned your friend, you hear the roaring engine of a 3 foot metal remote control plane coming right at both of you. What do you do? Do you use your calmest voice to warn your friend again or do you scream "WATCH OUT!" and push your friend to safety on the ground? If you love them, you will scream and push :)  My point is, when someone you love is at risk of being hurt, you do whatever you can to save them even if it means taking desperate measures to do so.  Bible Time..... God wants each and every one of us to be saved. To do that, he will use you and your circumstances to help others. Know this though - God will not use you unless you are open and available to being used. "It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means; I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices. I did not come to invite the good people, but to invite the sinners" ~ Matthew If you don't know God, invite him into your life today. "Ask and God will give to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened" ~ Matthew  Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?  Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and all the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands"  So are you inspired or are you desperate? Hopefully you're a little of both.  Don't waste another day missing out on what God is trying to do in your life. And don't be the person on the day the Lord returns falling to your knees crying and saying "I'll do anything if you save me NOW!" By then it will be too late and He will say "Go away from me, for I do not know you" "The problem is that the situation is desperate.....and so are we" Lord, help us to see you in everything around us. Help us to open our hearts and minds to you so you can guide us. Lord, we are desperate for you - Please show us the way.