Measures

I live in a cutthroat world.  Your world is even worse than mine is!  One might try to make it fair, equitable, reasonable, honest, or ethical, but our efforts will largely be a failure.  We might strive to do the right thing but evil always seems to win.  It seems as though the only measures of success are financial, power, and status.  Winning is all that counts!  It does not matter how one gets there, just that one does. 
 
If I look at the world around me, no matter where I am, I find this is the reality within my sight.  Individuals struggle to survive in every community, big and small.  Families right against the forces of evil in every locale, rich and poor.  Communities try to improve the opportunities for those within their gates, even as the leaders work to line their personal accounts. 
 
I wish I could say that compassion always won.  I wish I could hold onto the fact that love always vanquished hate.  Even my desire for acceptance and mercy finds my heart a hostile place at times.  Everything worth striving for often seems illusive.  At times it seems like giving up is easier than striving towards the ideal.  The blues often seem to dominate the music of my heart.  Yet it is in this struggle that I find the greatest hope.
 
I know two things.  First, “‘there is no peace,’ says God, ‘for the wicked.’”  (Isaiah 48.22)  Second, truth is always worth striving for, no matter what the circumstance.
 
The latter shapes my understanding of life.  The fact the wicked struggle to know peace provides no comfort.  Rather, I find myself examining my life every time I struggle with unrest or a loss of sleep.  I wonder if I realize how often I create the hell in my life.  Is it possible that I drove myself to purgatory?  Have I defined my life by the world’s measures instead of God’s framework?  Did I lose sight of life’s true compass?
 
Today does not need to be rudderless.  Guidance comes from our God.