Have you
ever been placed in a situation that from a human standpoint really did
not make sense? Have you experienced a disappointment so great that
it was hard to regain perspective and continue living life with a smile on
your face and a song in your heart? Have you found yourself
asking, “Lord, what are you doing? I don’t understand!” Sometimes there are no easy answers, and God
is not obligated to give us an explanation for why He does what He does in our
lives. However, I know from my own
experience that God has used times like these to teach me some of the most
valuable lessons. He has reminded me in
these times that my contentment must not be in any set of circumstances, but in
God Himself. Perhaps through these
situations, He is trying to keep me from becoming too comfortable, so that I
continually cling to Him in dependence, as my constant, unchanging Rock!
No matter
what the circumstances of my life, I cannot live by what I feel – my emotions
are entirely unpredictable, subject to irrational changes, and completely unreliable! No matter what is going on in and around me,
what I must constantly look to and cling to are the unchangeable truths of
God’s Word. Then and only then can I
experience perfect peace and abiding joy in Who He is, regardless of the
circumstances of my life. He has
recently been reminding me of some of those timeless truths, through song and
the written Word… truths like the following:
“Sometimes all we have to hold onto is what we
know is true of who You are; so when the heartache hits like a hurricane, that
can never change who You are.”
Ps.
90:2b – “… even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
Ps.
7:13-14 - “Your way, o God, is holy; what god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have
made known Your strength among the peoples.”
“When
darkness seems to hide His face, I rest in His unchanging grace…”
2
Cor. 12:9 – “… My grace is sufficient for you…”
“Every
blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise; when the darkness closes in,
Lord, still I will say: Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your
glorious name. You give and take away…
my heart will choose to say: Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job
1:21 – “… The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
“Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
we will wait upon the Lord…You are the everlasting God…”
Is.
40:28-31 – “Do you not know? Have you
not heard? The everlasting God, the
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him
who lacks might He increases power… those who wait for the Lord will gain new
strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get
tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
“Wonderful, so wonderful is Your unfailing
love...”
Ps.
86:13 – “For Your lovingkindness toward me is great…”
“In
Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song; this
cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and
storm. What heights of love, what depths
of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My comforter, my all in all – here in the
love of Christ I stand.”
Ps.
46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God…”
Ps.
91:2 – “I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I
trust!”
Rom.
8:35 – “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”
“Complete
in Thee – each want supplied, and no good thing to me denied; since Thou my
portion, Lord, wilt be, I ask no more, complete in Thee.”
Ps.
84:11 – “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory;
no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Col.
2:10 – “ and in Him you have been made complete.”
How wonderful to know that
through the changes, disappointments, and trials of this life, there is one
thing we can cling to and trust in that never changes – our faithful God and
His faithful Word! He wants to use the
unsettling times in our lives as opportunities to strengthen our faith and increase
our dependence on Him, as well as our thirst for Him, as the only One Who can
truly satisfy our hearts!
