Such a Time as This
By Chalaine Scott
People say this generation is the problem. No one sits on front porches anymore. No families gather around tables. No rocking-chair sittin’ or porch-swing conversatin’.My grandpa’d sit and tell me about the good ol’ days. And I’d long for them. For jukebox playing and poodle skirt wearing and 10¢ drive-ins.It seemed so simple back then. Before our world seemed to so drastically change, before our country seemed to so radically shift. Before we had to lock our doors, before we had to recite the Pledge without the two words this country was founded on. Before we had to make sure the words we said and the things we believed stayed within the “proper” parameters because God forbid we offend someone by speaking a different thought than theirs.I’d long for days that weren’t like these days, forgetting and ignoring the fact that these were exactly the days I was made for.My name was etched in on the roster for 2016.So was yours.This is the time God created me for. He knew when I’d be born. When I’d live. When I’d go. He knew when He’d send me and when He’d take me back.And He chose me for this.For fast living in the 21st century, for lost cultures and searching souls. He made me and He placed me and He put me in today.I used to wish for the “good ol’ days” my grandpa talked about. Days of poodle skirts and jukeboxes and drive-ins. Days when the world seemed simple and pure. What a lie I believed to think I was meant for then. What a false premise to assume that I was born in the wrong decade. I have realized that I’ve spent so much time wishing for the things of yesteryear when instead I should be stepping up to the plate right here.God has created me for such a time as this. For this era. This day. This moment. If I was meant to wear poodle skirts and swing dance, I’d have been born then. But, no. I was put here during a tumultuous and contentious election year. I was put here to be a light when the world goes dark. A voice for the Kingdom. A finder of the lost. A good news giver when it all seems bad.Many will throw their hands up and call it a lost cause. And oh, what a tragedy.Look around you. This is exactly what God came to save.God isn’t in Heaven confused at the state of the world. He isn’t worried about an election or political party or president. He knows no ballot or leader will change the plan. He knows no government has the power to rewrite what He’s written.It’s important though, that we remember what God has called us to speak against and stand for. He’s never called us to put our faith in man, but he has called us to be firm in what the Bible says and rally behind those who fight for our beliefs. And He’s said, time and time again, to not lose hope. We are the ones God foreordained to serve this world in its exact present condition.While we live in a world full of evil, we also live in a world that’s still full of good. There are authentic and amazing and awe-inspiring people at such a time as this. We’re here. And not because we’ve made it to 2016, but because God put us in 2016. He sent me, and he sent you, God’s selected faithful followers and Bible-believers for such a time as this.Be one. Be a difference maker. Be bold. Speak up. Stand out. Stop longing for then, and live for now.This generation might be a problem. But it’s also the solution.For everything, there is a season. And this one’s ours.We’re up.
Chalaine Scott lives by her pen. As a little girl, she jotted down song lyrics and danced around her living room singing them with her sister in preparation for the day they would become famous. A twenty-something girl addicted to grace, her brother’s humor, and her dog’s cuddles, she welcomes inspiration from wherever it comes and daringly pursues her dreams with whatever it takes. Currently working on her second novel, she considers herself an idealist who wakes up each morning with the sole intention to write what is worth reading. Follow her @Chaleezy.