What If it Gets Worse instead of Better?

I know, pastors are expected by some to be happy, to promote happy thoughts. But I learn from pastors of the past to try to be as balanced as is the Bible. God’s Word is realistic about the judgments of God upon the nations, and it is honest about God’s discipline/correction of His people. 

We have an optimistic expectation that what is unpleasant now will get better - that we will return to “normal,” whatever that is. And that is the problem. We tend to take the blessings of God for granted, and to regard them as “normal.” 

I finished a book recently that suggests we have an irrational nostalgia for “the good old days.” For the left, that might be the rebellion and societal alterations that came about in the ’60’s. For the right, it might be somewhat later, perhaps associated with the Reagan revolution and the theme of limited government and lower taxes. Both sides are currently represented by aged representatives who are trying to take us back to “the good old days,” however defined. But we cannot go back. The clock only works in one direction. We can outline a preferred future, but we cannot return to a preferred past.

And so if our children no longer live as prosperously as their parents, what then? What if the pandemic gets worse instead of better? What if the economy falls apart? What if the strength of our nation continues to erode? What if those with whom we most vehemently disagree rise to power? What if the chastisement of God weighs heavily upon our nation, and upon the church? What then?

We must admit that we have a secularized view of “progress.” In America, “progress” means bigger and better. “Progress” means growth and success. In our minds, “progress” involves more, more, more - whether it be money, happiness pleasure, health, freedom autonomy. But what if there is not more, but less?

Perhaps, for the believer, a way forward is to remember what “progress” means from God’s perspective, for His people. What would it take for you and me to fear God more truly; to seek Him more earnestly; to love Him more freely; to obey Him more readily? Would it take something better, or worse? Would it take a little bit more, or some measure of less? We do not know. But God does. And He will do what is right. 

 “… Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17–18 NAS95)