Going on when you don’t feel like it

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." – Lamentations 3:22, 23

Probably the most difficult time of your Christian experience is when the sky seems to crash and your world comes apart. No, you don’t deserve it. No, you are not being punished. No, God hasn’t closed the door on you and shut off phone service, and certainly He hasn’t picked you out to see if you can withstand the punishment Job endured. But just the same, when you are hurting you feel alone and often feel estranged from God.

How can you overcome this? You aren’t going to like this, but I’ve got to say it. "God is in control." Refuse to believe what you know is untrue–regardless of how you feel, what your emotions or your body tell you–and believe that God is still in control.

Yes, it’s OK to tell God that you don’t understand. Did God ever promise that you would understand? Would you really want to worship a God so small that you understood His every thought or action?

Comparing yourself with others will get you into trouble every time. You’ve lost a baby and you notice the moral character of the girls who demand abortions, or you see the individuals who cheat on their spouses and on God, yet seem to get ahead of you. Don’t measure God’s goodness or faithfulness by the bad things that happen to you or by the good things that happen to others. Instead measure it in relation to His promises, which cannot change. His character enforces His actions.

Peter tells us that we are to cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). The psalmist said that we are to cast our burdens on the Lord and He will sustain us (Psalm 55:22).

Taking the days just one at a time, sometimes just taking a single day an hour at a time or a task at a time–is what God wants you to do, for the moment–getting the kids off to school, downloading the e-mail, dealing with the customer who stands there tapping the counter with his credit card to get your attention.

Trusting God just for today is what He asks. And when we get to the dawn of a new day, God’s going to be there to meet us and lead us through the minefields that prevent us in our fear and apprehension from feeling the warmth of His presence and sometimes make us forget He’s still in charge. Some things have to be taken by faith. It’s the only way.

Resource Reading: Psalm 46