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Climbing Out of the PitLyn Thompson, Pastoral Care, CTCA/Southwestern Regional Medical Center
The Complaint -- Psalm 77: 1-4 Do you ever feel like that? Overwhelmed? Disquieted? In grief and turmoil? You can't quit asking God, begging God for relief. It doesn't matter if the problem lies in consequences from a sin or error of your own doing or if it's something devastating that has happened to you out of the blue ... something you had no control over. You complain ... and it's silent ... there's no immediate answer or relief ... Let's look at the Psalmist's solution. The Solution, Step 1 -- Considering His Character -- Psalm 77:5-9 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; And my spirit maketh diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. How well do you know God? Are you intimate with Him? Who is He in your life? What do you know from experience about His character? When you live with someone, you learn that person's character, who he or she really is, even when no one is looking. That's the kind of intimacy you need with God ... that's what builds faith ... as you discover by experience, by living with Him, reading His Word, by seeking for Him and His perspective on your life and listening to His answers to your questions and difficulties, by His involvement in your life and yours with Him. As you get to know and experience more of the height, width, depth and breadth of His love for you, you gain peace in the trials of life, even when nothing is visibly changing in your circumstances at the rate you want it to. The Solution, Step 2 -- Considering His Works -- Psalm 77: 10-12 And I said, This is my infirmity; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also upon all thy work, And muse on thy doings. In the Bible, in Joshua 4, when God parted the Jordan River so the children of Israel could cross over to the Promised Land, He told the priests to take stones from the river and build a monument so they and future generations would always remember what God had done for them, how He'd delivered them from their enemies, how He'd done the impossible, how He'd been their Savior, Redeemer, Restorer and Victory. Have you marked stones of remembrance in your life? Those places where you've seen God work in the past, and you can go back there in your thinking and take a stand, once again, on the might, power and faithfulness of God? Have you gone back through Scripture and thought again on the amazing works of God and His sovereignty in the affairs of life? That kind of thinking lifts you up. It puts your eyes on the One in control of things over which you have no control. The Solution, Step 3 -- Considering His Way -- Psalm 77: 13-15 The sanctuary doesn't have to be in a church; the sanctuary can be the quiet place of your life ... the core of your being. In Romans 12:1-2, we're told our lives should be a living sacrifice to Him, moment by moment. That's true worship. And when our lives are totally surrendered to God, and we're in worship, we can enter into that quiet place in our lives through repentance, meditation, prayer, silence and solitude with only God. Isaiah 30:15 says: For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. The Truth Observed -- God's Authority, Power, Might and Mystery -- Psalm 77: 16-20 The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook. Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron. The earth trembles at God; He created it, and all He created recognizes His authority, His majesty, His power. In these verses, God's power is illustrated by the unleashed whirlwind, thunder and lightnings. We can't often see Him in the midst of those movements; He's a mystery to us, and the way He chooses to work is often mysterious and past finding out. We often can't see His footsteps when He's leading us, because He's leading through things that mask them, like the sea; but when we look back, we see that He's led us like a flock ... His footprints are visible in our lives ... through the people He's connected us with, the experiences, the way He's moved in circumstances, the high and low points, the testings and temptations. Spend time with God, not just today, but every day. Get to know Him. Reflect on His involvement in your life and throughout the ages. Think on Him, who He is, what He's done and on His absolute sovereignty, faithfulness and love. It will pull you right out of the pit. |
