Where Is God In Troubling Times?

Verse of the day: Psalm 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

How often do we find ourselves in this state of being; downtrodden, sorrowful, distressed and depressed? In this lifetime, we will have plenty of opportunity and occasion to feel this way. For some, it may be a physical imbalance that causes it, while for others it is a lack of fellowship and relationship with Jesus. I have been often asked if I believe that it is wrong for a Christian to take medication for depression. My answer has always been that while it is possible for a human being to have some kind of chemical imbalance, just as any human being can be born into this world with some kind of handicap, it is also possible that the cause is really spiritual oppression or spiritual malnourishment. I will be tackling this devotion from the perspective of the Christian who simply has failed to do what every Christian is exhorted to do in Scripture, seek God, pray, trust God, give thanks, and praise Him. The fact of the matter is that every one of us will experience some kind of troubling circumstance that may cause us to wonder where God was in all of it; when there is a debilitating illness or injury to us or someone we know and love. When there is a tragedy that affects us personally or a loved one, or we are experiencing some kind of hardship, whether financial or otherwise. Where do we turn? Who do we turn to? Are we being faithless when we feel sorrow and break down in tears? The short answer is no, this is a perfectly normal reaction, even for the child of God. God has created us in His image, and in doing so created us with emotions to help us cope with life experiences. The difference between us and the unsaved person going through the same circumstances is that we have God in Christ, and therefore we have hope that all things will somehow work together for our good (Rm 8:28-29). The psalmist begins by expressing his desire for God, his thirst for the presence of God; and he expresses it with many tears. There will be those moments when it seems that God is far away and is not hearing our prayers. We know, by faith, that the Holy Spirit indwells us and never leaves us; we know that God is always with us, even when our mind and emotions tell us otherwise (Heb 13:5-6). This is where many Christians fail to overcome sorrow and depression. We find ourselves going through troubling times and then scramble to find God in all of it, when in fact the time to seek God is long before difficulties arise. In our daily lives we should be thirsting and seeking God’s face. This is why it is of utmost importance that we, as God’s children, build our lives around our fellowship and relationship with God, and not the other way around, where we are making a feeble attempt to squeeze God into our “busy” lives. We are to be in prayer continually, reading and studying His Word (every day), giving God thanks for all the blessings, and praising Him for all He has done for us, even though all we deserve is eternal damnation. In verse 5 of this Psalm the psalmist recites, almost identically, what he recites here in verse 11. However, there is a big difference. The difference being that in verse 5 he is addressing himself as if to reassure himself of what he knows of God. Although he is experiencing great sorrow, he is reminding himself of the hope he has in God and reminds himself to praise God who is his salvation, his Deliverer, his victory. If we are in constant, intentional, fellowship with God, when hard times come, we will be able to rehearse and remind ourselves of God faithfulness; and even though we may feel like He is not near, we will know, without a shadow of a doubt that He is still in control. By the time the psalmist recites verse 11, he has once again expressed his despair resulting from his feelings of being forsaken, because of the oppression he was experiencing from his enemies. However, this time when he cries out, he is acknowledging and affirming that he has God’s favor in this situation, and God is present. He will continue to praise God because God is his God. The bottom line is that we have a God who gave His only begotten Son for us, and if He gave His Son for our salvation, He will always be near to us to supply us with the grace needed, and whatever else is needed, to endure whatever suffering we experience while here on earth (Rm 8:31-39).

God gave us His Son, not only to save us, but to be with us from now into eternity. He extends an invitation to you today to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).