June 9, 2021
But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. – Psalm 13:5
Have you ever danced in the rain? It seems a silly thing to do as an adult, but sometimes when the drought has been long, and the need for rain great, it’s nice to see a raining day. And maybe we rejoice enough to dance in the rain.
The journey towards salvation is paved in faith. It is our faith in God’s mercy, grace, and love that helps us through difficult times, and allows us to see a way that is beyond ourselves. Yet, we would all be remise if we didn’t acknowledge that sometimes there is doubt. Days of doubt may seem like rainy days in our faith, but maybe we need to dance in the rain.
Doubt is often seen as the opposite of faith, or at odds with faith. We usually want to overcome our doubts, or try to ignore their existence. Why should we have doubt when we have seen how good the Lord has been to us, or how much we have been blessed? However, doubt is a very important part of our journey. Doubts allow us to ask questions we are afraid to ask. Doubt leads us to study and discern, and in many ways I think doubt can lead us to trust in things we cannot fully explain, and thus allowing our faith to increase because we find that trust resides directly between our doubt and our faith.
Our faith is the assurance of all that we hope for (Hebrews 11:1), yet when doubts arise, there is a need for us to trust in God’s leading, and love for us. In the psalms, like the one above, there are a number of times when the psalms attributed to King David show that there is doubt that Israel, or even David personally, will overcome the enemies advances around them. We see these psalm prayers as a lament for what is happening in the life of God’s people. There are times when life is difficult, and we doubt there will be a victory, or we doubt we will make it through. However, as we come to the conclusion of these prayers what we find is that trust in the midst of doubt leads us back to the faith that our salvation is secure.
Even in the midst of doubts, we are reminded that we have reason to rejoice, because we trust God’s steadfast love. That trust helps us to dance even in the rain, so let us rejoice in all things that God is with us now and forever.
Grace & Peace,
Sam