And Yet...

How do you handle difficulties in your life?

Pretend they aren't there?  Paint a smile on your face and continue about your business as if it weren't really happening, wearing a mask to hide the pain from all the people around you who expect you to be and do and say all the right things, all the things they are not and all the things that they hope they can be?

Or maybe you're a controller?  Our pastor was saying this evening that one of the things we all try to do when trials present themselves is control the situation.  We try to fix it.  Are you a fixer?  Do you work and work and work and work in the hopes that maybe, one day, some time you might be able to fix it enough so that it won't hurt anymore?  Maybe one day it might actually go away and not be a problem for you?  In your own strength?  In your own way?

Anybody out there a wallower?  You face the problems of this world and you don't see any need to fix them or control them.  Why even bother trying to pretend they aren't there?  You're a realist!  You know pretending won't make them go away and trying to fix them won't take care of it either!  And so you sit.  You sulk.  You wallow in the misery of your problems and prey on other people to have pity on you, to sit down with you and hear you talk about all of your issues.  You slosh around in the sludge and grime of your tribulations and try to bring as many people down into the depths with you as you can.  Why be sad all alone?  I can bring all my friends too!

I was reading in the Psalms last week and came across a verse I recognized, but from a different portion of the Bible - the New Testament to be exact,

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?  Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest."  Psalm 22:1-2

Those are David's words.  He's going through a trial, apparently so difficult that he finds himself feeling as though God had abandoned him.  It's so difficult, and his words so fitting, that Jesus quotes this same Psalm in Matthew as He is hanging from the cross.  Is it wrong to feel that way?  No, I don't think so.  I think it's a natural part of life to have ups and downs.  There are times when we feel we're on top of the world and everything is going great.  There are times when we feel we're in the lowest of valleys and everything is going wrong.  David is expressing emotions here that we all have felt or will feel at some point in our lives.  Here's the difference - David's response is so radically different from what we feel naturally inclined to do.  Check out the following four words:

"Yet you are holy..."  Psalm 22:3a

We flawed, sinful people all go running to our solutions that we hope will make us feel better (I to my fixing), and David responds to a trial (one that makes him feel forsaken entirely) by praising God for His holiness.  On top of that, I feel like David is revealing a deeper understanding that He has of our God and Father.  David understands that trials are temporary - they don't last forever!  He understands that trials are for our benefit - they grow us and stretch us to be in more intimate relationships with the Lord.  More importantly, however, David understands the ultimate purpose of any trials that we may go through - God's glorification.

David's trial is so intense he feels forsaken - yet God is holy.
Jesus is going to the cross and feels the same way David did - yet God is holy.
You're stressed at work, you feel unaccomplished, you feel like a failure - yet God is holy.
Life has you down, situations are escalating, you're depressed about all of it - yet God is holy.
Your future is uncertain and you don't know the next step to take, you're scared - yet God is holy.


Are you noticing a pattern here?  It doesn't matter what life throws at you.  It doesn't matter if you have the best job in the world and you're on top of the highest mountain or if every situation seems to mount against you and you've sunk down into the lowest valley you could ever imagine.

God is holy.  He loves you.  He has your best interest at heart.  He is taking care of you and watching over you and lifting you up and carrying you when you can't walk anymore.  He is saying to you,

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Take joy in that truth.  Find peace in the lightness of His burden.  Experience true rest.