New Year, Same Old Problems

Has anyone noticed anything different about 2021? No? I didn’t either. We may be in another decade of time, but we still have decades-old problems that go on year after year. There is still no peace on Earth, even though every December 25- 31, we say we want it, but somehow the effort to attain it continues to elude us. Is that by design for sinister reasons, or is it something that man may never attain? Take a look around the world and wait; look no further than the boundary lines of this nation. Racial, economic, and judicial disparity still exist on levels that could tear a country apart. The problems, as we know, didn’t start yesterday, but they persist because there are those who want them to continue.

Take race for example. Black people didn’t ask to come to America. They were taken and enslaved. Even though they were created in God’s image, the people that came here for so-called religious and personal freedoms somehow didn’t see fit to make Black people their “equal”. Not only Black people but also the Natives who were here before them. Somehow, they were “convinced” that this was one of “God’s plans” for mankind, and this land was given to them to rule. Over hundreds of years, race and race relations got “better” only because of conflict. Now in 2021, race relations are getting worse instead of getting better just as they were in 2020, 2019, etc.…you get the picture. For the last four years, the subject of race was brought to the forefront, not by agitators or radicals, but by those who have a stake in race relations worsening. Not only does it keep a nation divided, but it ensures that those who would benefit the most, as we have seen, are able to get more people to support their cause. It will always be an “us versus them” when all that “the them” want is to be treated as equals. New year, same old problems. The same things said about race can be said for economic and judicial disparities.

A nation is only as good as its people and those who lead them. From the beginning, when God established the Jewish nation, he put in place those whom He wanted. When the people/leaders listened to God, the nation prospered. When they didn’t, problems developed. The same has happened here in America and in other nations. Those elected to lead in public office put their hand on the Bible and swear to do what is right and good, so “help them God”. Whatever the challenges/problems a nation may face, God says, “hand them to me”.

Despite this, we have seen nations seemingly say, “no, thanks”. America has her share of problems but doesn’t seem to want to solve them with God. When you have leaders saying that they alone can “fix things”, it is usually a recipe for disaster. Take a look at the COVID pandemic. Also, take a look at the presidential election. One man refuses to accept defeat, creating numerous potential problems if he does not leave when the law says he must. The leader of the free world makes continual attempts to overturn an election as a last resort in efforts made not to face possible legal matters when he is out of office.

350,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19, and the president won’t acknowledge the numbers. People are going to food banks, facing evictions all because a nation as rich as America will only spend hundreds of dollars on its citizens in need, while other countries spend well into the thousands on theirs. Where we go in 2021 largely depends on those who stay true to their oaths to be servants instead of helping themselves at the table. It is a new year with the same old problems. Those problems can be reduced or eliminated if enough people have the resolve to say enough is enough. Remember, the world is watching. So is God. He hasn’t gone anywhere.