“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18
Have you ever felt like pain would swallow you whole? That somehow you have been marred beyond hope, unrecognizable even to yourself? Despite gallant efforts, perhaps you have been unable to recover from the hurt someone caused you or the grief you carry. I know suffering can radically transform the landscape of our life into a pile of rubble. We ache in despair: hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12).
Pain can be so deceptive.
In my own heart-sick state, I have been tempted to believe a host of lies. Chief of lies is the assumption God is absent. God, who could move mountains chose not to. I have felt abandoned—unworthy. I have choked back questions of why God and and have waved angry, accusing fingers in his direction. Pain doesn’t feel good so I conclude it’s not good or that God, who allowed it, is not good. After all, how could a good God allow suffering like this? These questions have caused so much distrust and doubt in my life. When I’m in despair, hope can feel utterly out of reach. Without hope in life, joy seems impossible. I feel joy to be unattainable because in my misguided thinking, joy and pain can’t possibly coexist. And that pain? Well, it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
But my friend, feelings are deceptive.
Suffering may seem like God’s final word in our life, but the reality is God is not done with us yet. Pain is not God’s final word—far from it.
Suffering is often the fertile soil God uses to grow deeper understanding of who He is.
Trust in God is forged through hardship.
We need to have a proper perspective of who God is and who we are not. We need to humbly see our limitations for what they are and KNOW God is not limited. God’s work within us is good and He is faithful always. In hardships, God is not far-off—God draws near. Though we may feel as though trouble has overcome us, God has overcome ALL things—even the things that threaten to undo us. God hears our cry and God delivers those that are His own (Psalm 34:17).
Always.
Deliverance does not mean I will have a trouble-free life this side of Heaven. While this reality is hard, through Christ I am promised God’s presence. God protects, upholds, and His steadfast love anchors me to an eternal reality that one day will be absent of pain. God’s presence with me, even in the midst of pain, is full joy—pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). God’s presence is complete—it is ENOUGH.
God makes joy possible even while suffering exists. God is present with us. We may be tempted to believe lies, but God has given us immeasurable truth to hold onto. HOPE forevermore. Hope now, and hope for the future. Goodness to come, yet goodness here—even in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).
So how can you hold onto hope?
Do you believe you can look on the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living? What do you need to let go of today to embrace the hope God offers?
Remember friends, God is LIFE—God brings it abundantly!
