Photo by Nghia Le on Unsplash
Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”
A lady called our church office the other day asking if she could meet with me. We set up a time and as she related all the difficulties she was going through, my heat broke. It seemed adversity was striking every area of her life—physical, financial, marital, as well as emotional and spiritual.
But her story didn’t surprise me. I can’t remember experiencing a time when so many believers were feeling the brunt of the world and the onslaught of the enemy. They are experiencing one punch after another, as abnormal amounts of life-irritants like kids getting lice, plumbers causing damage to water pipes, and unfair treatment at work, compound the serious issues.
Although these situations feel overwhelming, I’m praying the challenges will help us become battle-savvy instead of battle-weary. For every time we go through a difficulty and choose to trust God rather than give in to discouragement, we build up muscles of faith. Satan wants to drive us to despair. He uses every tool in his arsenal to keep us looking down rather than up. He tries to detach us from God’s love and make us think God doesn’t care. When we stop believing God cares, our faith plummets and all the demons in hell put on their party hats.
That’s why I love Psalm 31.
The psalmist urges us to keep hoping in God. No matter what. He knew what it was like for anguish to consume him (v.10). How it felt to be the utter contempt of his neighbors and object of dread to his closest friends (v.11). To be the brunt of unjust conspiracies (v.13). Yet he remains faithful to the God who rescues all those who stay true (v.24). And he encourages us to be strong and take heart.
When I was at the dentist the other day the dental assistant asked if I was comfortable. I wanted to say, “Are you kidding? How does comfortable and dentist even belong in the same sentence?” Life in this fallen imperfect world will never feel comfortable. And sometimes it will seem downright overwhelming. But God gives us the opportunity to help us grow through every uncomfortable, unfair and unexpected circumstance we face.
I’m praying, friend, for you and me to become battle-savvy.