Pastor's Corner: We can't make it on our own

In some ways, life has never been easier or more automatic. We can pay our bills, buy our groceries and maybe even earn a living without ever leaving our homes. If we’ve found the right app, artificial intelligence can research and write for us. So much of our lives can be handled from a laptop or tablet, or even our cell phone.

While some tasks are easier, it has never been harder to know what to believe. Bombarded by social media and streaming channels, we have more information available to us in a single moment than we did after months of diligent study just a decade or two ago. Yet most of that information is suspect, skewed by those who would manipulate our thinking and our emotions for their own ends – political, financial or personal. The sheer volume of information means that we could never verify the truth or partial truth of even a tiny percentage.

While in decades and centuries past, the world has known horrendous times of widespread famine, plagues a million times deadlier than covid or ebola and international wars that circled the globe, there has never been such a high percentage of the population with chronic anxiety and unrelenting depression even in times of relative prosperity and peace.

Technology has made us feel powerful in some ways and led us to suppose that we can handle life on our own, but we soon learn that it is all too much for us. In case you don’t know or have heard but struggle to believe it, there is an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present God, who created every detail not only of our world, but of our universe and all the seemingly unending space that scientists continue to discover. And He did not simply create it; He maintains it and remains aware of the smallest occurrence. He knows every time a tiny sparrow falls to earth and the number of hairs on each of our heads. He knows what is true and what is not, and understands perfectly the motivations behind each word that is spoken or written.

He knows not only all we have done, but every thought and emotion of our hearts. He knows not only our past, but every bit of our future, including the eternity that awaits us. When you connect your life to Him, through faith in Jesus Christ, you can take your next step without fear, knowing that someone infinitely wiser with limitless power, walks alongside you and Is there to bless and guide you into a life of true purpose and meaning.

There are so many scriptures that describe God’s power and great love, but I love what the songwriter wrote in Psalm 89:8-9: “Who is like you, O Lord God of hosts, surrounded by power and faithfulness? You rule over the raging sea; When the waves rise, you calm them down.” He is mighty! He is faithful, loving and constant! And He can calm not only a storm at sea, but the storms that arise in my heart and mind!

Don’t try to live life on your own. Draw near to the one who can see further, do more and can give you peace in a complicated world.