Are we going crazy yet with all the problems going on in the world? I find myself trying to gravitate away from the news these days. Sadly, though, I gravitate back to the news because of my great need to know what is going on.

I am reminded in 1 Peter 5:8 to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walked about, seeking whom he may devour." So we must watch and be alert! I don't want to be caught off guard from lack of watching what is happening around me, but wow it can be so depressing.

I am reminded of a scripture that says that the saints would be worn down. Daniel 7:25 states, "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Wow, that is how an enemy operates! He wears us down so he can destroy us. Sure sounds like what is going on now.

Now who is really doing this? Who is wearing the people down? We think it is people, the government, our relatives, and work, but people are just puppets in the hands of the one who is really out to destroy and conquer (1 John 5:19). It is Satan, the enemy of God, the enemy of His wonderful plan, and the enemy of all of us! He does this through speaking against the Most High, watering down and destroying God's Word. Sound like the times we live in?

What is going on around us is what a godless society has chosen. Many do not want God in their lives! They do not want prayer in schools, they do not want the Ten Commandments posted in government places; they just don't want God involved. So they have chosen the way of Satan and elected the people that will best represent them. The good news is that God has control over Satan and allows him the leverage to do what he is doing. He can only do what God allows. While the world may be the puppet in Satan's hand, the fact of the matter is Satan is the puppet in God's hands, and for a good purpose.

The great King David also felt overwhelmed and in despair when King Saul was after his life. Imagine this the very king of David's country wanted him dead! That would be like, today if the President of the United States had declared a death warrant on your life and sent out his men to hunt you down. How much fear would you have? So David felt overwhelmed when he wrote Psalm 13:1-6, "How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" Did you know that the two-word phrase how long is mentioned 18 times in Psalms, and in Psalm 13 it is mentioned 4 times? David was really in despair. When you read on in Psalm 13:5-6, it ends with David being restored to his confidence in God. "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise, for He has been good to me."

We know that our hope is not in this world's government. If it were, then we would all be doomed. Our hope is in the great Kingdom to come. Satan will be bound and a new ruler - Jesus Christ - who loves and cares deeply for mankind will begin to rule. He will reintroduce the Ten Commandments, the mandated laws that we must live by. The laws that God will mandate are laws for our good and not enforced for political gain. No vote will take place on these laws. What a fair and loving world it will be!

In the meantime, we have to live in the turmoil and watch the decline of our country. It can be overwhelming and discouraging when you see all that is happening around you. This is the time we have to focus on the "Big" picture, that God's Kingdom and His intervention are just around the corner.

As Paul said in Colossians 3:2-3, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Trust in God, knowing that He is in control and a new future lies ahead for all of mankind. This will help us to watch world events and not become discouraged and overwhelmed. It is God's master plan. Psalms 27:14 states, "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." That is how you will survive in this crazy world. Our hope is for the Loving, Righteous King to soon return.