Dealing with a fierce, hardened heart

[MissouriGuerrilla]

I would like to ask you all something serious and sincere. How have some of you dealt with what's happening in our country and our world from a religious point of view? I know there is hatred and revenge and feelings of bad things happening to those in charge. The anger in our country is at a fever pitch, probably it's highest since the Civil War. How have you curtailed or suppressed your anger with what's going on through your faith? Was part of God and you had to ignore it and walk away? I am sincerely trying to deal with this and I am not too proud to say I am struggling mightily.

Thanks.

Mods, if this thread is in the wrong place, please advise.

[Beavertail]

The way I have dealt with it is to completely stop watching reading or listening to any news. That even includes the weather channels because they are pushing their own agenda. I just put my faith in the Lord knowing everything that's happening now has already been foretold in the Bible and I know how it's all going to end. Stay strong and trust in our Saviour.

[Steve Warden]

The way I have dealt with it is to completely stop watching reading or listening to any news. That even includes the weather channels because they are pushing their own agenda. I just put my faith in the Lord knowing everything that's happening now has already been foretold in the Bible and I know how it's all going to end. Stay strong and trust in our Saviour.

I'm pretty much the same when it comes to what I watch. It's going to get worse before it gets better.
Remember, Peter walked on the water! It was when he took his eyes off the Lord to see the chaos all around him that he started to sink.
But do what Peter did! He called upon Jesus, and He reached down to rescue Peter.
As Tim said, stay strong and trust in Him, our Saviour.

[Mumbleypeg]

The evil one is at work, and always will be. You only need to look around you to see his efforts and successes, from on the news to the lives of people we know. God is our refuge. Throughout the New Testament Christ battled and defeated the evil one and his demons. He defeated the devil on the cross and through His resurrection. He has already won the battle.

In 1st Corinthians Paul tells us to put on God’s armor. Prayer works. Through it we are strengthened to deal with the feelings and frustrations you describe.

Ken

[just bob]

When the weight of the world gets too heavy for me to carry alone, I often listen to this song. Watch it all the way through to the end. It has got me through a lot of hard times.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRn7gpxUSg4

[doglegg]

I try to remind myself that I am a pilgrim and stranger here. How should I expect an unconverted world to act? I try to keep my thoughts on "when He shall appear ". While still praying for those who are in authority.

[philco]

I often think of the words of Jesus as he hung there on the cross; "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing."

Just as the crowd was led astray to turn against Him, so too have many in our time been led astray without even knowing it. They don't understand what they are doing or whom they are serving.

[orvet]

First, I would like to thank you for your honesty and for admitting that you are struggling. I think any Christian who is the least bit aware of what's happening in our country will struggle with the corruption, injustice, and evil that we see daily in the news and in the world around us. This is not just a government problem, but it permeates our society, the world of business, entertainment, our churches and even our families.
This is not a new problem. The Apostle Paul says, " For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12 RSV

When I look at the enormity of the evil that seems to be so pervasive, it would make me give up in despair, if my Hope was in this world, in a man or even in a system of government. But my hope is in Jesus Christ and his substitutionary death on the cross for my sin.

There is a war between God and Satan that started in the Garden of Eden. What we are seeing today is a continuation of that war. I believe we are coming down to the end, and I know God is going to win!

Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before you." John 15:18
We will be opposed, slandered, and persecuted, just as Jesus was. So, what are we supposed to do? Jesus tells us this, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."
Matthew 5:44 NKJV

I believe we are living in a time where we are going to see more persecution of Christians in America. Just this week, we had a church shooting in Texas. The news is full of stories of pastors and laymen being arrested for praying in public and for speaking out against evil and injustice. At this point, it is not as prevalent in the US as it is in Canada and Europe, but I believe it is coming here sooner than later.

I think there is good advice for our times found in the book of Isaiah:
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:6 NKJV

Do I have it figured out? Not at all!
But “... I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against until that Day.” II Timothy 1:12 NKJV

[MissouriGuerrilla]

I assured the mods that they wouldn't find me getting political because that's kinda' what got me suspended in the first place. I have had to completely shut off everything political and news-wise because it is pull your hair out, run across a field screaming maddening. I found that I got tired of hearing people saying over and over, ad nauseum, "How much more are we gonna take?!" and "When are we going to do something about all this?!" and my anger boiled to such a pitch, I was ready to go to war. Then I thought to myself, "Wait. The ONLY thing that's going to happen is voting in November."
So I ground my teeth to the gums and was full of such hatred towards those in charge that I had to just go cold turkey. But it messed with my faith and my emotions and got my topsy turvy because I do know this is a war between evil and good. And there are those who are twisting Jesus and the Bible like a SONIC pretzel and I realized that the truth, the only and the unwavering is God, Jesus and the Bible.

But I wondered how some others were balancing their bitterness and anger while staying in the Biblical lines.

[treefarmer]

Checking in a little late on your post, MissouriGuerrilla, I'll add a heart felt Amen to those that have commented.
I believe we are all wired different, that is we respond to influences in different ways be they good or evil. Personally we try to keep up with the more conservative presentation of the country's events and troubles. We must continue to pray for our leaders in Washington and our state and local governments. The Bible instructs to do so. Read 1 Timothy 2:1-2. It is tough to pray for Joe Biden and the like, very hard! Our pray for them is that they would be able to make decisions and ruling that will honor the Lord and display common sense. And we are rewarded by seeing them continue to make ungodly rulings and everything that is contrary to common sense and decency. But we do also know that somehow our God will eventually get the Glory out of all this mess.
The times we're living in make us wonder about the events recorded in the prophesy of Daniel and the events mentioned in the Book of Revelation, just how close are we to the actual return of Christ for the Church. We can go all directions with various groups and denominations interpratations of the scriptures giving their understanding of when and where. A wise pastor once said, "Be prepared." We'll all be surprised in that day of how wrong we may have been on some particular doctrines, that is the ones that have nothnig to do with our salvation. We can't miss out by placing our trust in the Savior, he is they way, the truth and the life, John14:6.
Treefarmer

[orvet]

But I wondered how some others were balancing their bitterness and anger while staying in the Biblical lines.

Paul said, "Be angry, and do not sin."
Ephesians 4:26

I believe there is such a thing as righteous anger. Jesus certainly had righteous anger when he cleansed the temple, and in Mark 3:5 when those of the religious establishment were trying to entrap him for healing someone on the Sabbath. He was angry because they didn't care about the person who needed healing. They were just playing a religious gotcha game.

I think anger crosses over into sin when we allow our anger to create  bitterness and hatred in ourselves. How we go about stopping the bitterness and hatred may vary from one person to another. It may not be a single answer. There may be several parts to the answer. I can't speak to how others handle that situation, but I can share how I handle it.

The first thing I do when I find myself becoming angry is to stop watching so many news reports. There was a time when the news broadcasts attempted to be somewhat neutral. The repetitive nature of today's 24/7 news broadcast cycle, regardless of the political leaning, tends to inflame the viewer, especially if the viewer has particularly strong feelings about the issue. Since I am one of those people who has strong feelings, I find I must monitor my feelings when I am watching the news. When I begin to feel angry and inflamed, I turn it off and take a break or several hours or even several days.

More important than limiting my exposure to the news is that I expose myself to what is righteous and true, that is, God's Word. I read the Bible a lot. Sometimes, I will be reading the scriptures three or four times a day. That helps me to put my mind in a more holy and righteous frame of mind.

I also pray a lot. I pray for our nation, our leaders, and especially  for those who are corrupt and doing evil things. It's pretty hard to hate someone when you're praying for them.

Another thing I do is examine my attitude and pray and confess sin if I find my attitude is not right.

These are the things I do on a daily basis that help me to keep from becoming angry and sinning.

One last thing that I have done is I monitor my intake of secular entertainment, whether that be books, movies, or music. Our secular culture is so compromised that I find it necessary to limit what I see, read, or listen to. Many years ago I stopped listening to most secular music. That's not a hard and fast rule for me but I rarely listen to secular rock or country music simply because the subject matter does not glorify God.

I'm not strong enough to listen all day to things that don't glorify God and still be able to glorify Him with my life.

This is how I try to live to deal with the very challenging times in which we live. I hope it is helpful to you also.

[MissouriGuerrilla]

Wow...to say you all have helped me and given me a lot of advice and counseling to think about is an understatement. In a respectful way, I'm glad I am not the only one dealing with this as it makes one feel so alone. As I've stated before, I believe we haven't seen anything like this since the Civil War and I keep waiting for this nation to finally explode.
I have been watching a decent amount of Billy Graham as I go to the Billy Graham Evangelical Association Facebook page as well as Franklin Graham's and the Billy Graham Library. I also get Our Daily Bread, if any of you are familiar with them. I order a lot of their free books and am building quite a decent little library of very helpful and insightful books. One of my favorite things is to watch a "Monday Night Classic" that's accessible from the BGEA Facebook page. They are 30 minute sermons of his from different years and places.

[KLJ77]

Lots of wonderful insight, thoughts and different emotions conveyed in this thread. I trust all of it is edifying to whomever reads these posts.

On the human level, it can be quite overwhelming to see what is happening in the world today. Dale hit on a lot of it very well. The Middle East is becoming more and more intense every day. What is happening surrounding Israel, who is getting hit from several various nations, reminds me of the Psalm 83 prophecy where it speaks of 10 nations coming against Israel. I believe this is one of the next great prophesies that will be witnessed. If one is not familiar with this prophesy in Psalm 83, I highly recommend researching it for the purpose of being 'informed' and knowledgeable so that one can be better spiritually prepared for what is coming. It truly appears that we are very close to seeing this happen, according to what is going on in the ME. Psalm 83 has never been this close to fruition at any other time in history.

So much of what is going on in the world and in America are things that the Bible calls "birth pangs." Much of it we absolutely have NO control over and should not overly dwell on it to the extent of becoming depressed or gain a heightened state of anxiety because of it. Knowledge is not a bad thing, but when we, as humans, tend to clog our minds and emotions with things we have no control over, it becomes BAGGAGE, dirty unclean baggage, that if it's not tossed out as chaff, then it becomes easy for us to allow it to control every aspect of our lives. We have to learn to compartmentalize what we hear and see, and then toss out the garbage and dirt so that we do not become tainted in our thinking process to the point it affects our Christian lives and our spiritual relationship with God and our Lord and Savior.

I've had to learn to turn away from much of what the media spews out every day, as some here have already conveyed. God has told us in His Word that what we see happening would come to fruition, and it's NOT going to get any better. Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation tells us what is coming, along with what Jesus warned us about during His ministry of three years. Many of us will probably not be here to witness a lot of this. That is why it's so very important to prepare yourself, our children and grandchildren through the Word of God NOW and show them the way to salvation through Jesus Christ if you're not already doing so or have done so. God NEVER promised us that Christians / born again believers, would not go through some of these trying times. But what God DID promise believers is; He would keep us from His DAY OF WRATH spoken of in Revelation. We MUST remain faithful to Him and not to man. We must keep Christ the focal point in our lives, knowing that he will keep us unto the day of salvation. Christ is our HOPE, not man, not a president, not a country...but Christ.

Don't hold the baggage of the world inside you. Clean your mind, emotions and thoughts through prayer, and continue to allow God to work His complete Sanctification in you for as long as you are on this earth.

May God bless each and every one of you, In Christ's Name, Amen.

[Mumbleypeg]

I would like to ask you all something serious and sincere. How have some of you dealt with what's happening in our country and our world from a religious point of view? I know there is hatred and revenge and feelings of bad things happening to those in charge. The anger in our country is at a fever pitch, probably it's highest since the Civil War. How have you curtailed or suppressed your anger with what's going on through your faith? Was part of God and you had to ignore it and walk away? I am sincerely trying to deal with this and I am not too proud to say I am struggling mightily.

Thanks.

Mods, if this thread is in the wrong place, please advise.

Read James 1:5-20. Hope it helps you. Trust in God, listen to His voice. Listen to His scriptures. If you aren’t comfortable that you know what to pray for to find the comfort you seek, try praying scriptures back to God. I sometimes find that helpful.

You may also find help in reading Proverbs.

Ken

[Reverand]

Part of staying calm and being at peace, for me, is the realization that the world is NOT getting worse. It seems like it to us, but it isn't.
This is Satan's temporary time, and he is doing what he has since the fall: he is tempting and corrupting. He steals, kills, and destroys. Whether it was early Romans persecuting Christians, Christians persecuting Jews, pagans invading peaceful lands to loot and pillage, royalty dominating commoners, atheists slaughtering their political opponents, or neighbors committing crimes against their communities, all of these are normal actions for fallen the world. We had a temporary reprieve from the worst of it for a few generations in some countries, but while it seemed normal to us, this degeneracy is actually the norm.

But Jesus our Christ and Lord gives peace that transcends the evil of the world. Not a peace that stops all evil, but a peace that abides in the face of it. "You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies." He does not bring us out of this world, but stands beside us and within us as we love our enemies in the face of evil.
Because His light shines brightest when it contrasts against the darkness of the world.

[bighomer]

Preach it Reverend, tell it all brother, if anybody believes that things are any different they need to study the Old Testament.
I try to have some control of the things that I can control, now the good Lord allows me to accomplish these things at times, some of the time it doesn't work all that well but I try. The evil in others is something I can't control, but I can persever to be the best person that I can be, I come up short at times as all of us do. I have a hope and belief in Jesus that the evil ones will be judged.

[MissouriGuerrilla]

Here's a thought I keep having....God will judge the evil ones that bring different kinds of pain and suffering. But...if those evil people repent and confess their sins, and God forgives if they're right with him, then do they get away with what they have done? I've wondered if that's kind of a gray area.

[Reverand]

Through repentance and faith in Jesus, all believers "get away" with our sins against God. There is no eternal punishment for the one who has been forgiven.
But there are earthly consequences for our sins, between now and eternity.

Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. King David lost a newborn child, then lost his kingdom to a rebellious child (before losing that son as well) because of his sins.
"God is not mocked: whatever a man sows, he will also reap."