Well, friends, last Monday, 03-03-03, came and went with no terrorist attacks.  Our soldiers are still standing down in Iraq, and we're still living in our homes.  Babies are still being born and baptized.  Our country isn't perfect, but it's better than most.  Nature may look a bit ugly right now, but spring is coming.  Weren't those two weeks of gray days depressing?  Unpredictable snows, brown lawns, and pet deposits make March depressing.  Like it's said, "March in Colorado is God's way of showing someone who doesn't drink what a hangover is like."  Thanks be to God for every day we can live here.  Amid the naysayers and doomsdayers, it's time to look up and smile.

          A man was driving along the highway with his wife.  It was their anniversary, and he had forgotten all about it, and his wife was getting more unhappy by the minute.  It wasn't the first time he'd done this, and she was getting tired of his self-centered attitude.  He was also not wearing his seatbelt when a patrol car pulled in behind him.  So to be on the safe side, he grabbed at his seatbelt, and in doing so swerved the car slightly, so the patrolman pulled him over.  "You weren't wearing your seatbelt, so I'm going to have give you a citation," the officer said.  "No, officer," said the man trying to cover up, "I WAS wearing my seatbelt, I really was.  You tell him, honey, wasn't I wearing my seatbelt?"  His wife thought a moment and said, "Officer, this man and I have been married 35 years - today, in fact - and if there's one thing I've learned, it's not to contradict him when he's been drinking."

          Ouch!  With wife like that, how could a man get away with anything?  As my Uncle Bill, who didn't marry till he was 72 years old, once said, "Who can ever know the mind of God - or a woman?"

          Open your Bibles to Romans chapter 8.  It's filled with some great news.  In this chapter Paul writes about important things, memorable things, for Christians.  In verse 6, he tells us to take care not to set our minds on things of the flesh.  That means getting wrapped all up in pleasure, possessions and popularity, and that stuff can destroy us!  In verse 18, Paul tells us there will be suffering, but it needn't overpower us.  Suffering always seems bad, but it can strengthen us, like calisthenics strengthen muscles.  And God is always stronger than our suffering.

          In Verse 26 He tells us the Holy Spirit helps us pray.  That's good because most of our prayers are pretty weak and when it comes to prayer, we need all the help we can get.  Verse 28 is a gem - we know it well - "In everything God works for good with those who love Him."  What a great verse!  Some days life is a puzzle.  Some days God's ways are just plain strange.  They don't make sense, but they will!  We just have to wait awhile to see how.  Understanding God takes time.  Sometimes His ways can't be understood at all, at least this side of heaven.

          But in verse 31, Paul says something great -- "If God IS for us, who can be against us?"  Now I like that!  If God is for us, why worry?  If God is for us, what's the problem?  If God is for us, why be afraid?  That's a truly helpful verse for people whose world seems out of control, who've lost their grip, who may even think they're losing their minds.  God IS for us -- He still has things under His control.  He's in our corner, so we won't lose the fight.  He's the coach, so we're going to win the big game.  He's the general, so the victory is ours.  Though the battle may seem lost, the war will be won!  Christ has already overcome Satan.  "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."  "If God IS for us, who can be against us?"

          There is a whole lot of fear in this world today.  Right now some of us fear our country may be going over the edge.  This war business is confusing and seems out of control.  The economy needs help, we think.  Families need help.  Why fight over there when we have crime here?  What about battered women, cancer, AIDS, and corporate greed?  Shouldn't we fix things here before trying to fix things in Iraq?  Sometimes you feel like a prisoner to forces you can't control.

          Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ became a prisoner.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, He willingly gave Himself up to the authorities.  He walked the way to the cross of His own accord.  His death bought us back from Satan.  He didn't jump and run in the face of fear.  He didn't hide, but put Himself in harm's way.  He's won the battle against Satan, so we can have the prize.

          Jesus is Lord of all things, including our fears.  His prize is our peace, something so precious today - an eternal peace of mind, a peace that's ours because He IS for us.  No matter how terrible life is treating you right now, no matter how rotten the world looks, no matter how lousy you may feel, God is for us!  So who cares who's against us?  By faith, He's in our corner.

          Lots of people today, especially the kids, feel life is all out of control.  Look what they see - crime, temptations, sex, corruption.  They see churches infighting and countries outfighting.  They see Christians chase after things of the world rather than the things of God.  No one seems to have common sense.  Recently I heard someone in the grocery store say, "I think I'm going out of my mind."  The lady behind her said, "Hold up - I think I'll come along!"  The world today seems upside down and inside out.

          I get Reader's Digest and sometimes read the monthly section called, "That's Outrageous".  It chronicles some of the outlandish things people do.  Recent stories like the woman who sued her country club when her golf shot ricocheted off a steel post back into her face, injuring her eye -- it was their fault for putting the post there, she said.  Or the college course at San Francisco State that brings in prostitutes for lectures and offers tips on finding porno websites.  Or the 300 lb. man who successfully sued McDonalds and Burger King for his obesity.  Or Nick Davis who was fined $45 for illegally parking in Washington, DC.  Trouble is, Nick had been dead ten years.  When the son showed them a death certificate, the DMV still wanted the ticket paid.  Or people in Iraq volunteering to be human shields, then complaining when Iraqi soldiers actually put them there.  "It could be dangerous!" one said.  What's outrageous?  People are.  We've lost common sense, bought the loony farm where the inmates run the place.

          Think about old Abraham.  After all that waiting, he finally had a child and then his wives started arguing.  Then God told him to kill his son!  Imagine what he thought when God told him this.  The Bible is really circumspect about this.  It doesn't record him arguing the point, or shaking his fist at God, but I'm thinking he did.  No loving father could just accept what God told him to do.  But he finally did it.  Abraham's story is not one of parental perfection, but of faith.

          Abraham had his fears.  Parenting in any age has its problems, let alone when you're a hundred years old.  Like every parent, he feared losing his child.  What father doesn't worry about his son?  What mother doesn't fear for her daughter?  That's when you have to give them to God, to trust He will care for them.  Teach them the Gospel, show them Christ, and let God take over.  It's all we can do, and it's the best we have to offer.

          In the midst of all the fear and outrage this world can cause us, you and I could use some peace.  Thanks be to God, Christ has secured it for us all.  The peace of Christ rules in the hearts of all believers, and it brings us security in the midst of our turmoil, whether in the hospital after surgery or in the IRS office after an audit.  God IS for us, and so the peace that surpasses all understanding is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.

          St. Paul speaks of that peace in Romans 5:1.  "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  In Christ, God has justified us.  He has declared us righteous, free from sin.  Because of Jesus, you and I have peace with God that the world cannot take away.  If you're struggling to find that peace, maybe fear is getting in the way.  Let go and let God.  Let Him give you the peace you can't find yourself.

          In our weekly Confirmation classes, my students take turns praying at the beginning and at the end of class.  And nearly every week, they have one consistent prayer - "God, keep us safe."  The young have many reasons to pray that; so do adults.  Our world is on a fast track.  You can get run over by a car or by a lifestyle.  You can be frightened just by getting up in the morning.  Worry can bring ulcers, sometimes even to small children.

          But just remember, "If God IS for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also give us all things with Him?"  Will not God meet our needs?  Will He not make sure our loved ones are protected?  Will He not be the victor over all kinds of evil?  Of course He will.  He is God, and that is His will.

          You and I don't have to face all this life alone.  God IS with us.  He sent His only Son to be our Savior.  Christ did not live His life in fear.  He faced His trials with faith.  He knew bad things would happen, but He also knew His Father would make the outcome good.

          A woman and her husband were having a minor argument when he gently asked her why she had married him in the first place.  "I guess I was just stupid," she said sarcastically.  He smiled and chuckled so much at her words that she said, "What's so funny?"  "I think our marriage will last," he said with a grin.  "People get divorced all the time because they say they fall out of love.  But I've never heard anyone falling out of stupid."

          No matter how stupid we may be, God does not fall out of love with us.  He IS with us, now and always.  Thanks be to God!  Amen!

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.