double standard

these days, my heart feels numerous questions for God:

• why does evil seem to be winning?
• why would anyone be allowed to steal an innocent child and force him/her into the horrors of the sex trade?
• how come abortion is still even possible, so that millions of babies have been murdered just for being alive?
• why would anyone hate another person for the color of their skin (and it goes both ways these days!)?
• how is it that our public schools can get away with feeding our children processed, genetically modified, greasy slop and call it food? our kids are not only becoming obese, but are getting asthma, brittle bones, eye problems, and more!
• how can big companies get away with dumping their deadly waste into our water supplies without us knowing?
• how did it get to the point where Christians are taunted and called bigots for labeling sin as sin: homosexuality, abortion, immodesty, gossip, lust...?
• and where did these crazy tornadoes and earthquakes come from that are killing people and leveling their homes??!

it seems that Satan is running away with the world, with our country, and no one is doing anything to stop it. the majority is cheering him on! how did this happen?

"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear." Isaiah 59:1

right??? surely He hears us crying out to Him, begging for help and mercy!? He is the One who created the whole universe! why doesn't He take charge and help the 'good guys' win?

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; 
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil." Isaiah 59:2-4
"Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts;
ruin and destruction mark their ways." Isaiah 59:7

this is not the only reason God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want, but it is a big one.
sometimes i think people see Christianity as one of those name tag stickers: "Hello my name is Christian." they slap it on their shirt and then forget it's there. they act in any way they please, and expect that piece of paper to take care of the rest. if anyone confronts them, they point self-righteously to it and say, "hey, i'm good. i'm a 'Christian.' don't tell ME how to live."
we act like a pet dog who has been given food and water and loving belly-rubs, but turns at the slightest sound to snarl and bite his own owner!

"For our offenses are many in Your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
fomenting (instigating) oppression and revolt,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found, 
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey." Isaiah 59:12-14

we have turned our backs on God, collectively, as a country.

• prayer has been removed from schools, from major events, from the military; we even hesitate to bow our heads at a restaurant for fear of what others will say.
• parents allow celebrities to lead their children. girls scream and faint at the sight of their 'idols', boys stare at pornography, and parents chuckle and do the same things themselves.
• true discipline is frowned upon. you can have your children taken away into child protection if your neighbor hears you spanking and calls the police.
• the word 'tolerance' has nothing to do with its dictionary definition anymore. it should mean we could disagree but still live together. now it means you MUST agree or be labeled a bigot.
• the quote, "don't judge me," became a license to sin, unchecked. 
• big companies are licensed to patent a gene in corn, so that they can sue anyone who even accidentally grows a stalk of that particular corn. then our government offers that genetically modified corn as foreign aid to starving countries, and refuses to give them any other kind! meanwhile those big companies are suing poor foreign farmers left and right for growing corn that blew off the company trucks and grew in the farmer's field! unfair!
• we allow our girls to wear shorts that barely cover their crotch, and shirts that show as much cleavage as possible. then we tell them they look 'sexy', but tell boys and men not to look. what??!
• we encourage our boys to 'become men' by drinking or having sex with as many girls as possible; parents shrug and call it 'experience' or 'sowing their oats'. then we wonder why they don't respect women and why they drive drunk.
• adults treat marriage like buying a pair of shoes. shop around; try some on; buy the one you want; if you don't like it, take it back and get a new pair. no biggie. just because you VOWED to be with that person forever doesn't mean you have to keep your vows. and we wonder why no one trusts anyone anymore.
• people talk incessantly negatively about coworkers, family, and friends, looking for ways to be the one to share a juicy tidbit. i hear this all the time, "i'm not gossiping or anything, BUT......" really??
• we expect lies from our government, the people WE voted to lead us.
• creation by God has been all but abandoned, while a theory called evolution is taught in schools as though it is fact. we don't want there to be a God to whom we owe our lives. so we use unreliable and disproved dating methods and chart out far-fetched ancestral trees complete with concept drawings of monkey-men, and again, teach this in school as fact! many scientists refuse to even report all the discoveries that continue to back up the history in the Bible.
• after all this, when a tornado rips through our town, or when a child is killed in a drunken car accident, we cry out to God and blame Him, accusing Him of not being there for us!

"All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations ----
a people who continually provoke Me to my very face." Isaiah 65:2

God is STILL, after ALL THIS, holding out His hands to us, willing to accept us, to adopt us as His very own children! All you have to do is repent, which just means to turn from your wrong ways and commit to walk towards God with Jesus as your leader.
And for those who have been faithful all along, there is SO much to fight for, SO much to look forward to.
Christian, do not give up the fight. do not grow weary in standing up for what you believe! it is worth it!

"Although you have been forsaken and hated...
I will make you the everlasting pride
and the joy of all generations." Isaiah 60:15

we say, "I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness...
For as the soil makes the sprout come up 
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations." Isaiah 61:10-11

and may all the praise go to God, for saving us, for giving us the strength to carry on, for blessing us with eternal life!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, 

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." 

Galatians 6:9