Look around. What do you see? Are things getting better?

The human spirit can accept almost anything and call it normal. The abused spouse or child will often settle for what they have, keep quiet, and hope that their circumstances will change without intervention. People groups and nations drift along dreaming of better days, but never thinking anything could ever change.

In Old Testament biblical history, about 2,800 years ago, the nation Israel was in declension. They were on the verge of the serious judgment of almighty God. Some people believe the best God can do for them is to leave them alone. Appeasement of God by any means would only result in continued existence of status quo.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The God of the Bible is a God of blessing and wants nothing more than to pour out on His people the bounty of heaven.

Israel was going downhill in every way because they had turned from the ways of God and were living independently. Departure from God always brings judgment.

In those ancient days, there was a spokesman for God, a prophet. His name was Amos.

Amos pleaded with the people to get right with God, to turn from idolatry and worship Almighty God in Spirit and truth. His message fell on deaf ears. The people were in the early stages of judgment, and they did not recognize it. Things were happening incrementally and slowly their way of life was slipping away.

Amos cried out in the book of Amos, chapter six, verse one: “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria.” In the midst of judgment, the people were rationalizing, playing the law of averages, and refusing to believe that Almighty God was moving against them.

Nobody can deny that our society is moving rapidly downhill from what used to be peace and safety. The disintegration of the family has released angry gangs and rogue predators that are preying on unsuspecting people. Almost every day there is another mass killing, a husband or wife killing off multiple family members, and then taking their own life.

We look to government falsely, believing that all these human problems have human solutions. All that is happening is that things are getting worse. We must not wait until we are in the plight of the man who became a victim of the Nazis. The man said to his son as he was being marched off to a death camp, “Son, look and remember. It does not get any worse than this.”

We must cry out to God. The security we think we have can fly away like an eagle. Complacency in these times is like hoping for a soft landing while you are falling and you know your parachute did not open correctly.

God is our only hope. Only he can turn things around because it is highly likely that all the woes we are experiencing are directly from him.

It does not take much to move God. God Himself said in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This is no time for complacency. We must repent and cry out to almighty God!

The Rev. Dan Puckett is a minister with Life Action Ministries.