By Tim Longoria | Broadcast Reporter
2020. The year that was destined to be, “The Year,” is not necessarily turning out how everyone had hoped. It seems day by day, little by little, everyday life gets a little bit worse in one aspect or another. Sudden deaths of beloved sports and celebrity icons, escalating racial tension in a divided nation and not to mention, the global pandemic that is causing normal life to completely turn upside-down — this causes a sense of panic, wouldn’t you think?
The King of Kings says, “Fear not, for I am with you…” in Isaiah 41:10. Then, move on to verse 13 where it says, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says, Do not fear; I will help you.” How can we worry and trust God at the same time?
For me, those two verses are a breath of fresh air in the midst of the poison we are breathing in day-to-day in the modern world. It seems as if evil is consuming this world faster than ever before because of one tragedy after another, but we need to be reminded that God is still very much in control. He is seeing how we are going to respond.
The “normal world” before 2020 was moving too fast. It was finally time for us to sit down and think about what we want our future to look like as Christians and as a nation.
All of this is no surprise to the One who crafted us and the world we live on with His own hands. It is so common these days to see the media, famous people with any sort of platform and really, normal people like you and me try and push the negative narrative that times are getting worse and there’s no recovery.
But it’s quite the opposite. There is recovery in the sense of allowing Jesus to change our hearts.
I had such an optimistic look on 2020 before it came, and honestly, I still do. Here’s why: the recent disheartening events just open the door for opportunity. Opportunities to unify, restore and uplift the people who are hurting, by calling on the One who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Bad things happen in a broken world. People are searching for any source of hope because so much has been taken away from them. Our society is anxious and needs revival.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “…do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.”
There is power in prayer and America has forgotten how to pray. In the victories and in the struggles, we are called as Christians to thank God for letting us experience a new way to learn and move forward.
What’s stopping us from recreating the Jesus Revolution from the 60s and 70s?
Our society has started to put worldly desires on a pedestal, casting out faith into the shadows. We all have now seen what happens when we replace the love and grace given by God, with content in the flesh that won’t even last close to a lifetime.
Jesus is eternal. In Him, we can be as well. Take His hand. The Prince of Peace accepts any and all people, because no person is above the other. The human race was cursed at the start of life for the descent of perfection to sin. As unfortunate as that is, Jesus provides another way to reach the original plans that God the Father had for us.
It’s time we brought devotion to our faith back in times of suffering and in times of joy through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. 2020 is a wake-up call from God — warning us to spread His Word to whoever is yearning for an answer in this chaotic start to a new decade.
Jesus is the answer.
I believe 2020 is the start of an uprising of new believers all throughout the country and the world. We can only pray.
