For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.- Psalm 27:5
It would be nice is there were no pain. It would be nice to never experience suffering. It would be wonderful if life was always good. Some have found that positive thinking is the way to trick ourselves into making it through tough times by trying to keep our mind on the “bright side” of things. Others have abused substances to become numb to the feelings of pain. And others, still, have found ways to suppress the pain and trouble of life.
I’ve heard stories of people who had faith leaders tell them that if they really believe in God, then they wouldn’t experience trouble, and that life would be okay, even during trails. Yet, even as a person of faith, I’ve experienced my fair share of trouble, hardship, and difficulty. I don’t think it means that I lacked faith during those times, and I don’t think I needed pray harder, or believe strong. In those times when we are in the middle of something troubling in our lives, we are not okay, and we need to hear the words that even if we are not okay, that is okay.
No one can tell us how we feel enduring our current circumstances, the feelings we have in that moment are validated, we are allowed to be scared, angry, upset, frantic, any number of feeling. We are allowed to feel. I fully believe, and even more having studied the scriptures that every feeling imaginable is represented. In fact, many of feeling we have in the middle of times of trouble are expressed beautifully in one book, the psalms.
In the psalms we see the emotions of fear and anger, as well as relief and elation. The psalmists remind us that people of faith are real people. Real people who live in a real world, and face trouble that, from a psychological standpoint, elicit a response similar to our own. What I’m most drawn to, however, is the reality that these songs express to God those feelings, and knowingly expect God to do something about it.
They psalmist confess that they have done wrong, but we don’t hear them whine that God should have treated them better, or that they deserve to be in their position. No, what we read in the psalms are the words of people who know that God will save them, even as they have done wrong. Because they know, in faith, they are still God’s people. It’s not an entitlement either. Their response is one that believe, completely, in a faithful God, a God in whom they place absolute trust.
But how can they trust this God? What has this God done for them? They trust God because of personal experience, and/or the testimony of someone they trust. It’s why the apostle Paul writes: “if God is for us, who can stand against us?” (Romans 8:31). He, like people of faith have always known, and even now know, God meets us in our times of trouble. We may not be free from trouble, but God’s presence like a tent, or like a high rock will lift us up in the midst of trouble.
May God lift us higher and higher for he is the rock of highest magnitude.
Grace & Peace,
Sam