05/15/2017
Troubles are a part of our lives. In daily life we face many trials, but as Christians and believers in God the Father, we face them from a point of great advantage and strength. We find confidence in God's ability to bring us through them, and they strengthen our faith, but what of the good times?
“For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
Psalms 18:29-30 ESV
What are your troubles today? Maybe this is a good day and you are between the trials that come, and in this you are giving thanks to God, but then again, perhaps you are facing a time of great challenge. Our faith in Christ should be sufficient to carry us through both days. Both circumstances bring us to the Father, but it might surprise you to know that in the good times we are more likely to stray.
The day began with me awakening, refreshed, from a sound sleep. The sun was streaming through the window, it was a beautiful spring morning, and I didn't have a care in the world. I stepped out of bed and stretched before heading to the coffee pot and my comfortable chair to read, pray, and write. But, the morning was so perfect that I once I had poured my coffee, I forewent my morning time of devotion and turned on the news.... I had taken the first misstep in a seemingly perfect day.
Every journey begins with one step, and pilgrimages of faith are no different. The day in my example was exceptionally wonderful, but my first step had taken me off the path that brought me to God each day. Does this sound familiar to you? On good days are you inclined to say a quick "thank you", but during days of trouble you seek Jesus with all your heart?
“"Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,”
Deuteronomy 8:11-14 ESV
It is easy to be complacent on the sunny days. The temptation is to rest and enjoy the day that the Lord has made... and there is merit in doing so... but not at the expense of doing so alone. Let's skip forward a hundred psalms from our first scripture and read again...
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalms 118:24 ESV
We like this verse, and know the feeling well! That overflowing sense of euphoria and joy in trouble-free days of plenty. Days like that make it easy for us to stop there and miss the very next verse.
“Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!”
Psalms 118:25 ESV
When we cherry pick scripture we often feed the mood we are feeling, and this one is specifically quoted on glorious days, but this Psalm is one of thanksgiving for God's rescue from a time of hardship. It begins with words like "Thanks" and "His steadfast love endures." So God has delivered the house of Aaron, and now a period of joy is at hand, but the psalmist knows that this is only a time between trials and following the flowing praise of verse 24 immediately comes this verse... "save us we pray."
Why should we ask the Lord to save us on days of joy and peace? On a physical plane it is because between the periods of calm there will be more trouble, but on a spiritual level we realize that during times of plenty we are most likely to lose our zeal and faith.
Paul knew this too. He wrote to the Philippians and spoke to them of this. He told them how to face the good times and the bad times alike. His words speak no less to us, than they did to the Philippians those many years ago:
“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:12-13 ESV
So We are in danger during the times of our plenty... spiritually we are in more danger than during hardships. This is true because in those times of suffering we seek God, and call out to Jesus, but during our smooth days we are inclined to depend on our own selves and place our faith in some comfortable place where it can be forgotten.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the times of suffering that bring me to great faith, but I thank you equally for the perseverance of faith that you give me in the sweet times between hardships. Never let me become complacent as I seek out my salvation in fear and trembling. Let my attentiveness to your commandments, and my prayers, be equally fervent in times of plenty as in times when I need your deliverance. You come in rescue of me when I am suffering, but when I rest during the peaceful days, I pray that you rest beside me, and never let my eyes stray from you. In the slow current between the fast waters, and in the wide smooth miles as my river flows imminently into the sea, be with me Lord, and let your Holy Spirit reside with me. Carry me closer to home Jesus... even when the pace has slowed and I am tempted to feel safe in myself.
Rich Forbes