The Problem With Chariots

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:7

Every Week, it seems, the news reports on a new poll that takes the temperature of the public and provides a snapshot of how people feel on a given day. One poll might ask, How confident do you feel about the future? Another questions, Do you think the country is on the right track? These polls change weekly, and so do the results. I remember when most people felt pretty confident about our future and were optimistic about what lay ahead. It was unusual for a large percentage of those polled to think we were on the wrong track.

Lately, not so. For several years now the polls have shown a decline in our expectations for the future. Even young adults graduating from college and starting their adult lives tend to feel despondent about their prospects.

We live in turbulent times: wars, severe weather, a declining economy, debt, unemployment, foreclosures, layoffs, a weak stock market. Everything we once built our confidence on seems to have proved unstable. Everything we put our trust in has proved untrustworthy.

That, I think, is the problem with chariots and horses. They are not unshakable. Remember Pharaoh’s army (see Exodus 14:21-28)?

Are you feeling shaken right now? Are you feeling unsettled because of the times in which we live? Can you remember different times? Times when the world’s economy seemed unstoppable, and it seemed the good times would never end? Did you feel more secure then?

Is it time for us to stop and take inventory of what we lean on? I am surprised to discover what my confidence rests in, and often I don’t see it until it has been stripped away. It wasn’t until the state of the world came crashing down that I realized how much of my optimism hung on the state of the world.

Let these days of uncertainty be an opportunity for us to reassess where our sense of assurance lies and get it anchored in the right place. Let’s boast in the name of the Lord our God.

Lord, I rest in you.

Real true faith is man’s weakness leaning on God’s strength.

Dwight L. Moody(1837–1899), American evangelist and publisher