Listening to the news this morning, I realized just how troubled our world is. I feel like I don;t even recognize it sometimes. We all have someone we know that has been seriously affected by the economy and the many of us have friends that have lost jobs, homes and feel like they are trapped by this world. It was worrisome to me as I watched people I love experience the depths of uncertainty in a very uncertain world but while some were close friends it still wasn't happening to me... Then after 30 years in the automotive Industry my precious husband became the victim of the economy as his employer looked at the bottom line and began not making cuts in staff but cutting salaries as much as 50%. It began to get more and more difficult, then before we knew it like a bad dream they began to ask him to be a party to fraud and He being a man of integrity could not sell out to this way of thinking. He could not help them survive by robbing himself of his integrity, at 50 years old, never being anything more then the Best employee any employer could as for, he found himself unemployed. We accepted the change with excitement and renewed vision for my business. excited to be together and sure that God had a plan.

God does have a plan we just don't always know what it is. We have to pray and keep our eyes on him, no matter what has come our way, what sacrifice we have to make, what changes we have to make in our Lifestyle or what "stuff" we give up, we know God is in Control and that he has us and our best interest in mind, we know he is enough and he will meet our needs. Now I think even knowing this and having a spouse that shares my unwavering faith, I still get scared, worry and have to retreat and surrender over and over again, what and how are the people of our world who do not have faith, do not know that God is the light of the world, how are they surviving these troubled times? Scary! I can't imagine not having hope. No matter how bad it gets I always have hope because I have Faith. I know that my situation is nothing compared to some people but even I struggle and yet I always have hope. It is no wonder there are so many desperate acts of violence, fathers taking the lives of their entire families, mothers taking the lives of their children, they have no hope. Can you imagine how dark, how alone, how troubled and confused they are? We all have experienced that uncomfortable feeling of being in a new place, where we don't know anyone, we don't know our way around or even where the bathroom is, where we go to eat, we would all just ask someone to point us in the right direction. What if though there was no one around, you stood alone and there was no one, no map, no cell phone nothing and nothingness is all that surrounded you. Can you imagine what that would feel like? To have no hope? Isn't that how many of us feel all the time, alone with nothing to hold onto? God is always there and he always has hope for us, he always has a way out, it doesn't mean he takes all the things in life away but it does mean we have HOPE if we look to him!.

the following verses offer guidance to a troubled world, to the believer and to the one who hungers for more, answers and peace. God knows our hearts and he knows that we feel like stragers to our world, he knows that feelings of uncertainity lead to sin but he tells us that he will lead us through troubled times. He is the light unto the world, he is our comforter, he is our visonary, he has a vision for our lives, but we have to look to him to share in his vision!

1 Peter 2:11 (New International Version)
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

Colossians 3:2 (New International Version)
2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.


John 14:6 (New International Version)
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Psalm 121:1-7 (New International Version)
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;