Will I Stand With God?

This morning as I was praying, I wondered for a moment what the current world looked like in the eyes of God.  So much evil and yet so much good.  As I pondered on these seemingly darkening and perilous times the thought came to me that this is a winnowing time.  A time for people to figure out where they truly stand.

It is easy enough to stand with what is good and right when the crowds surround you.

But what about when everyone around you seems to be choosing something different?  Do we have the courage to search our hearts, our prayers and our scriptures for where God wants us to stand and plant ourselves their firmly?  Marilla Cuthbert in "Anne of Green Gables" said it so eloquently: God does not want us for a fair weather friend.

In a world where so many chose to discriminate, attack, hate, covet and murder (physically or emotionally), will we choose God first?  Will we show Him love first and foremost?  A love that is often proven in how we treat our fellow man?  In how we spend our time?

We all crave friendships that matter,  a friend that is there through the hard times and the good.  Perhaps that is a main purpose behind the hard times that seem to prevail.  Will we prove our loyalty to God and stand where He plants us?  For it is in adversity that heart of man is proven for what it is.

I believe we must also respect those who are taking stands in other ways.  We each have a different purpose on this earth.  Just because someone does not share our religious interpretation of God does not mean they, in their own way, are not also doing God's work.

Let us stand with God.  Let us respect and love our fellow men and women even when they are so unlovable.  Let us chose the harder right even when it seems all around us are not.  We can make it.  Carry on.  The end will be glorious.