Ordinary People; Desperate Times

The 1980 film Ordinary People starred Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Judd Hirsch.   This film which won 4 Oscars, highlighted the breakdown of an upper class family when the accidental death of the oldest son creates a wide communication divide.  While our culture, music and style has changed, ordinary people continue to struggle to build a loving, stable and  supportive home for children to live.

If this wasn’t enough, men, women and recent college graduates are fighting to find employment which can pay their bills or keep them afloat until a higher paying job opens up.  From my own experience over the last 9 months, words like loyalty, pensions and savings accounts are becoming extinct for many.  When hundreds of people show up to an employment center and wait in line for 7 hours for an interview, you know we are living in desperate times.

Despite the nature of our current economy, Jesus has left Matthew 6:25-34 for such a time as this to restore hope to Americans and the world.  As most people are daily focusing on their external problems, God is at work internally, providing for birds, flowers and grass, Matthew 6:25-30.  Therefore, do not let worry suck the life out of you!  Rather, make seeking God and His righteousness your main priority.  Though, we are all ordinary people living in desperate times, there is an extraordinary God who has prepared in advance good works for you to do so that your needs will be met, Ephesians 2:10.

by Jay Mankus