The ever popular question surfaces again. Why do bad things happen to good people? The Psalmist here is expressing the bewilderment when suffering seems undeserved.
Lord, I haven’t forgotten You. I’m keeping your laws. I’m not wandering from my walk with You. My heart is in Your hands. Why am I experiencing defeat despite my faith and obedience? Why has “all this” happened?
Are you in an “all this” season? It’s easy to identify. It’s marked with questions, doubts, confusion and countless why’s.
God wants to take our “all this” and transform it into one of the “all things” that He is working together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
I read a commentary saying that “all this” may not be punishment, but a battle scar that demonstrates our loyalty. Do I love God for what He does or for who He is? Is my commitment conditional and my allegiance qualified, dependent on His blessing? Bad things happen to all people. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, Matthew 5:45. The storm hit’s the home built on the rock as well as the sand. The difference? When the weather clears and the damage is surveyed and assessed, the foundation of faith has remained. Touched. Shaken. But firm.
Maybe the mystery is not so much that bad things happen, but that God allows great things to happen for His redeemed. Is not the good we receive even more undeserving? I'm just saying...
5 comments:
I've been reminding myself that God does not CONDEMN me he corrects & disciplines me but the enemy sure has tried this "scheme" on me the last couple of days. Yesterday I read the Girlfriends in God devo and this verse was at the top: Galatians 5:1 (NIV) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Going along with what you shared, Joy, that my confidence grows to KNOW God that HE will NEVER LEAVE ME, even though times may be tough...to keep pressin' on, waiting and trusting in HIM! Have a blessed weekend! Raylene
Dear Joy,
Thank you for a wonderful week of study! I cannot tell you how much your words have enriched me. God put you in our lives to be a light and to shine on our paths! Likewise to Wendy, without your daily commitment to shepherd us through a year of chronological reading, many of us would have fallen aside. We would not have persevered. We would be less.
I loved the psalms that made up today's reading; so many so familiar! It's interesting to know that they may have been penned so long after David and Solomon were no longer around. I particularly loved Psalm 45. I wrote in the margin "messianic".
6 Your throne, O God,[b] endures forever and ever.
You rule with a scepter of justice.
7 You love justice and hate evil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you,
pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.
I went to my NIV study bible and read that Psalm 45 was a wedding song for the King and was probably used for many kings weddings until the years of exile. Then it became a song of the Messiah.
13 The bride, a princess, looks glorious
in her golden gown.
14 In her beautiful robes, she is led to the king,
accompanied by her bridesmaids.
15 What a joyful and enthusiastic procession
as they enter the king’s palace!
In the New Testament, the church is the bride of Christ. I love the visual of the joyful and enthusiastic procession as we enter the King's palace!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Karen, CA
My thanks to you as well Joy for a wonderful week of teaching & sharing. I agree with Karen that you shine much light along our path!
Your post today really touched me as well:
As the deer longs for streams of
water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Psalm 42:1-2
Few of us can say we have never felt forgotton or forsaken by God...that we have not hungered or thirsted for him more than we feel we have been filled.
It is easier in an "all this" type of season to give up on God...to return to idols or ways of the flesh in an attempt to solve our problems, fill us up...provide a Quick Fix or Instant Happiness...to ignore the quiet whisper of our Abba comforting us and encouraging us to rest and trust in him.
"be still, and know that I am God!"
Psalm 46:10
Praying we all sink into our firm foundation this weekend and Rejoice!
Liz
AK
I have my "all this" moments. I am so glad God acknowledges our "all this" and lovingly bless us with compassion and mercy. He is faithful and loving in reducing them to ashes. Praise God!
God has blessed you my dear friend with a special ability to write! Thank you for using the talent He gave you to bless us daily! You have a special way of relating scriptures to our everyday living!
Thank you!
Today, clearly God showed me that many times He allows us to suffer, in order to complete His purpose for Him. We tend to be concerned with the thing before us; while God is concerned with doing a work within us. We can't do it on our own, so we have to lean on Him. And by doing this He is drawing us into a much more closer and intimate relationship with Him! Our loving Father arranges our affairs to prove to us that His grace is always sufficient in every situation.
Choosing to live intentionally for Him, Lori - AZ
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