by Barbara Lane Geistfeld, D.V.M.
Lutherans For Life Regional Director of Texas
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV)
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19a NIV)
“… Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart … Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” (Hebrews 12:1-3, 12-13 NIV)
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
As we look at the wide world around us, indeed, there is nothing new under the sun. Though our unborn children are murdered by the millions; though people murder themselves in despair; though our neighbors are murdered and all that they have is taken; though our brothers and sisters are bought and sold like cattle; though our elderly, our disabled, our weak, and our poor are ignored or persecuted or cheated; though male has been turned into female and female into male; though governments have become altogether corrupt, and dishonesty and lies are the rule of the land; though jobs and lives and hope have been lost through pandemics; though injustice rolls on like a river; yet, like Habakkuk, we will rejoice in the Lord; we will be joyful in God our Savior.
As believers in Jesus, we have been called to live in a world we never expected to see and to speak against things we never expected to face. Persecution seemed to be aimed at someone else in some other nation at some other time, not here and now in our beloved America. It is very frightening to know that God has placed each of us here at this very moment in time for His purpose: to be lights in the darkness, to be warriors in His battles, to be the hands and feet and voices that bring the good news of salvation to the whole lost world. He asks us to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees, to open our mouths to the words He will give us, and to run the race to the finish line.
We can do it! We can persevere. We can be bold. Not in our own strength, but as Paul says, so shall we also say, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”