Do you ever wish you could just run away from the all the daily routine and get a new perspective on life? I think we all have those feelings at one time or another.

This time every year, my husband and I leave our hectic life behind and travel to the mountains for a renewal week. It isn’t exactly a vacation; it’s more like recharging our batteries.

We spend a week with Christian brothers and sisters studying God’s Word with some of the best teachers in the country. We spend the entire day, every day, in Bible classes on subjects that concern Christian people.

This year we have enjoyed already the beauties of God’s earth and have been exposed to the wonders of His universe as we watched the eclipse. What a wondrous sight that was! At the end of that extraordinary event, hundreds of people stood in the courtyard of the conference center and sang together, “How Great Thou Art.”

On Sunday morning, four thousand people gathered to worship God. We sang together, prayed together, took the Lord’s Supper together, and listened to a powerful lesson on the anointing of Jesus before His crucifixion.

Sometimes I get really discouraged at the horrible things going on in our country. I am sad that our freedoms are disappearing. I am frightened for my children and my grandchildren that they have to experience the discontent in our nation. There are those that do not want us to honor our history as a nation, but they prefer to rewrite our history.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.” People since the beginning of time have experienced persecution for their belief in God. They have lost their freedoms in one way or another.

You would think that we would learn from the mistakes made over the years, but we don’t. We remain silent and let those with distorted views and sinful hearts make the decisions that rule our nation. We refuse to stand for the truth, and we hide behind the idea that one person can’t do anything.

When Moses sent the men to spy out the land of Canaan, this is what he told them. “Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes” (Number 13:17-20).

When the spies returned, this was their report. “…We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there” (Numbers 13:27-28).

Two of the twelve men that travelled into Canaan insisted they could take the land. They wanted to go at once and take the land. The other ten were afraid and did not want to go.

Even though God had promised the Israelites that they would conquer the land of Canaan, the people murmured against Moses and Aaron. They wanted to appoint a new leader to return them to Egypt. Can you imagine? They wanted to return to slavery!

Two men stood before a crowd of hostile people and declared their allegiance to God. They begged the people not to rebel against God, but they responded by threatening these two men with stoning.

God declared that He would not allow any of these people to enter the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb and the children of those that had defied Him (Numbers 14).

Two men stood before a mob of people, defied the will of the majority, and professed their belief in God the creator.

My faith has been renewed because I know there are more than two people who want to stand against those that would allow us to be consumed by the ungodly. I know there are more than two men who desire to see this country remain free and who are willing to profess their belief in a higher power.

Do you stand with those that defy God, or do you stand with the faithful?

Sandra Oliver