The year 2026 looks grim tor America. Prices of goods are expected to continue increasing due to tariffs. Health Insurance premiums for millions of low-income individuals in some of the country's poorest states are expected to skyrocket. Food benefits, also known as food stamps—a lifeline for 1 In 8 food-insecure Americans—face steep structural changes that could cause some to lose access to them.

All of the above are by products of policies presented as key to reducing waste and fraud in the government's bureaucracy, yet the most vulnerable Americans are expected to be hurt the most.

"The costs of groceries, housing, childcare, education, and healthcare have become Intolerable to many," note Journalists Lauren Aratani and David Smith In a report for The Guardian.

"America is cynical — about its Institutions, politics and future," a story in The New York Times observes.

Many of these realities were cemented by the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Act," which was signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. While the law chipped away at social safety nets, it allocated the largest funding yet tor Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agencies tasked with carrying out the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.

In 2026, agencies such as ICE and CBP will have $170 billion to detain and deport more immigrants, expand surveillance, and build detention facilities. For comparison, the entire defense budget of the Philippines hovers at $7.2 billion. On Christmas Eve, The Washington Post reported that ICE plans to build warehouses capable of housing tens of thousands of immigrants for swift deportation.

Those active on social media may have already seen or read accounts of families being separated, U.S. citizens detained, and undocumented individuals—with no criminal record—sent to places such as El Salvador's notorious CECOT maximum-security prison, where they are assaulted and abused before being deported to their countries of origin—nations many asylum seekers fled out of fear tor their lives.

The absence of suffering and hardship wag never guaranteed when we chose to place our faith in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, He sold we would face troubles. Scripture Is also replete with men and women of faith who endured difficulty and hardship while placing their hope In God. In Hebrews 11, many of them died without seeing the fulfillment of the promise.

Yet they nonetheless believed and persisted, and like the shepherd who became Israel' s king and was known as a man after God's own heart, David—obeyed the call of the Almighty in their lives.

In our day, despite the dark horizons that loom, there remains an eternal truth—the game truth they believed In. One that no government policy, official rhetoric or world leader can alter. It is a truth inscribed In Scripture and regarded by many as the very word of God. And it applies whether one lives In the United States or elsewhere.

God remains unmoved as He sits on His throne and holds our future In the palm of His hand. The power of His Word and the promise of salvation through Jesus remain steadfast, no matter how stable or unstable the world becomes. The reality that God has prepared good works in advance for us to do, that He can make our paths straight, and that through prayer and thanksgiving we can find peace that transcends understanding is fixed.

These are promises that do not adjust to earthly realities but are divine assurances we can seize by faith—through prayer, meditation and obedience.

And as we continue to Inhabit our earthly tents In 2026, It is Important tor those of us who have pledged our allegiance to Jesus and HIS ways to remember that HIS Spirit lives In us—the Spirit of the One whom Titus calls the Blessed Hope, whose blood was shed on the cross at Calvary and changed our eternal destinies.

"Even though walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil," David says in Psalm 23, "for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." He continues, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long."

Israel's most celebrated monarch articulates In this psalm the basis of our security and assurance, even In the direst circumstances: "for you are with me" — the Lord's presence, His guiding hand, His Spirit.

In June, Pentecost Sunday will be observed across Christendom. The day commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit, the final person of the Trinity revealed to humanity. This widely observed tradition serves as a reminder that His presence—then and now—is always with us.

Caleb Maglaya Galaraga