December 4 – Necessary Trust (Psalm 31)

“I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.”(Psalm 31:14-15)

IN WORD:
David was stressed. Enemies hounded him. People lied about him. Onlookers looked on with contempt. When everything seemed bleak, when he felt ashamed and beaten down, David was able to turn to God. Somewhere between the despair of this psalm’s opening verses and the strength of its closing lines, David took heart in the nature of God. Desperate prayer turned to confident worship. He realized that the refuge he sought was a thoroughly reliable refuge. It sank into the depths of his being: God is good.
We can relate. We get stressed. We feel as if we live in a besieged city (v. 21) — physically, spiritually, financially, socially, mentally. We may go through illness, anger, poverty, or any other evidence of our fallen world, and we begin to feel it will never end. The psychology of being “under siege” begins to affect every area of our lives. We seek God as our refuge, but it is a weak faith at first. We must be reminded constantly of who He is. We must read psalms like this one and hear the witness of others who have been through similar circumstances and have seen His faithfulness. Somewhere in the process — usually when we have no choice but to just give up — God’s power and faithfulness become real. We get a glimpse of who He is. Trust turns our despair into worship.

IN DEED:
Sooner or later, circumstances will overwhelm you. God will let it happen — even ordain it — to force you into a necessary choice. Will you trust Him or not? There is no way to mature as a disciple without having to make that self-surrendering choice in the fires of trial; having once declared your trust is not enough. God will let it be tested, and the only way some of us are able to come to that place of rest in God is first to be absolutely overwhelmed.
Our helplessness will intensify until we realize: We can trust Him, and we must. We have no other reasonable option. We can let go and believe that all of our circumstances are His. We can relax, take a deep breath, and let it sink in that God is utterly trustworthy.

“He rides at ease whom the grace of God carries.”
-Thomas A’ Kempis-