By David Ettinger
Legendary Line
In the 1950 cinema classic “All About Eve,” Margot Channing – played by Bette Davis – was hosting a party. Just before the guests arrived, she turned to her three closest friends and uttered the immortal line: “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
And was it ever! There was backbiting, malice, defamation, deprecation, and other forms of nastiness. Just about all of it emanated from Margot herself, and it was quite humorous. After all, it was a movie.
In real life, however, none of the above behaviors contain even an iota of amusement. Yet, with just three weeks until the Presidential Election and the ongoing Supreme Court confirmation hearing, this “bumpy night” of rancor and hostility is precisely what we’re going to get.
And we’ll keep on getting it right through the hearings and Elections to the end of the year, into 2021, 2022 … in fact, until the return to Earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt America – if not the entire world – has crossed a sacred line it can no longer retreat from, an abhorrent breach of God-repudiation which cannot be reversed.
Just as ancient Israel had finally crossed a line of sin and apostasy which led to its judgment and punishment, so I believe America – and the world – has as well. Our “bumpy night” has begun, and the ride will get ever more jarring, distressing, and perilous.
But Never Forget …
But if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know several things.
First, this world was never meant to continue existing in its sinful form. There would be an end of it, and we are drawing near to that end.
Second, our hope as Christians lies not in our political leaders or in the mechanisms of human ingenuity. Our hope is in the Lord, and it is to Him our eyes must be turned.
And third, though the times are changing and swirling in ways unprecedented in the lifetimes of Westerners, we know that God is unaffected by Earth’s occurrences, has a will which cannot be altered by them, and is incapable of changing from the “perfectness” of who He is.
With this in mind, here are a few verses you need to firmly cling to in these ever-darkening days:
- “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
- “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6).
- “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17).
- “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
- “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
- “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).
- “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation” (Psalm 33:11).
Smooth Sailing
As we navigate the “bumpy night” of our declining world, remember that with God all is “smooth sailing” regarding His promises to us, the ultimate being that we will spend an unfathomable eternal existence with Him filled with such peace and joy that Paul considered “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
Margot Channing had it right: “It’s going to be a bumpy night.” But the prophet Isaiah was even “righter”: “Do not fear, for I [God] am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Our faithful God who never changes will indeed carry us through the bumpiness of the dark night we now find ourselves in!
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annj49
October 12, 2020
Thanks for this perspective, David.
Much needed….
There are two verses I keep close to my heart these days…..they may be unrelated in a contextual sense but they are also stand alone truth and they help me through….
I call it my Psalms and Isaiah combo…..
Isaiah 30:15
“In returning (repentance) and rest (in God) you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
It comes from here:
Isaiah 30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:
“For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,”
Isaiah 30:15 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/bible/114/isa.30.15.nkjv
And Psalm 71:16
“I will go in the strength of the Lord God”
It comes from here:
Psalms 71:14-16
“But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.”
Psalms 71:14-16 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/bible/114/psa.71.14-16.nkjv
My own verses to live by in the past and also in these tumultuous days….
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dettinger47
October 12, 2020
Tremendous verses, indeed, Ann!
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seekingdivineperspective
October 12, 2020
I have my own favorites these days. II Chronicles 7:14 keeps coming to mind. I don’t know if we have indeed passed the point of no return as a nation, but I hope not. There are those who desire to repent and get back to God, but are there enough? A while back someone took the story from Genesis regarding God’s telling Abraham He would spare Sodom if there were ten righteous people in the city. Comparing the population of Sodom to the population of the U.S., this person figured a million righteous people would be enough to hold off God’s judgment for now. Not sure you can hold Him to that, but it has been said that is He doesn’t judge America He should apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah…
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dettinger47
October 12, 2020
Well said. Amen!
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Sheila D.Currie Blake
October 12, 2020
Glory be to God. So true this sinful world must come to an end one day and we are confident that God’s plan and his will must come to pass. Thank you my brother in Christ. God bless.
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dettinger47
October 12, 2020
Thank you, Sheila.
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Tom
October 13, 2020
Thanks for the thoughtful post, David. There was a very popular paradigm out there that America was a Christian nation and its citizens were largely Christian or at least adhering to Judeo-Christian “values.” There were a lot of problems with that paradigm, but it’s clear that it’s no longer tenable. Believers in Great Britain had to cross that difficult line decades ago and come to terms with the fact that their nation could no longer be classified as Christian, but instead that there were small pockets of believers living amongst a generally unbelieving population. That “delinkage” from the old paradigm to the new is a radical, “bumpy night” change. I think in the deep recesses of the Bible Belt, people are still thinking old paradigm, but not up here in New York.
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dettinger47
October 13, 2020
I agree, Tom. I grew up in NYC, then moved to New Mexico and then Florida. I agree that the U.S. was never a Christian country, I would just say that in quite a few places, the “pockets” were actually pretty large. Living in different places has definitely given me greater perspective.
On the other hand, those still expecting a great revival are badly mistaken. Narrow is the road.
Much thanks for the excellent perspective, Tom.
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heavensreef
October 13, 2020
Thank you for this post……it is reality for sure. Even though things are bumpy I am thankful that with GOD there is smooth sailing!!
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dettinger47
October 13, 2020
He is indeed! Thank you, Maxine.
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vicklea
October 14, 2020
God is our anchor in the raging sea of life.
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