Real Life

Vol 2 No 32 THEO'S DEVOS

Psalm 13:1-6 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he has been so good to me.

I love these verses. The main reason for this love is that they reveal a God that is much different than the one I grew up knowing as a boy. In the first years of my faith I had a view of God as someone who was sort of made of crystal. You had to be really careful around Him or He might break. And heaven help you if you broke Him because, although He loved you, He had a short fuse and you didn't want His majesty to break all over you. I think I picked up this idea from the pastor that I had and the older Christians that were my teachers. You weren't suppose to ask 'Why?.' You were just supposed to accept whatever comes along and accept it as your fate. Questioning God was not allowed. It was a sign that you lacked faith.

Now if that is true then what in the world is David doing here. He seems to think he can walk into the Divine presence and state his case. He, in verse 3, demands that God face him. Where is the lightning here? God must have really gotten mad at David, right? Wrong. David was expressing his humanity in the only way he knew at the time. He was baring his soul to the God who was there and loved him. He was acknowledging that God was, in fact, there and that he wanted to know the answer to some pressing problems that he had.

What kind of God do you believe in? Can he handle it when you have problems and want to complain or is He a crystal god that will shatter if you step out of line with Him. Do you worry about the small things that you do that might not be what good Christians and what He thinks of you. If you do then maybe you should reread these verses and learn from them.

God is much stronger than we often give Him credit. He knows you because He made you. It is important for you to be completely open with Him. You already know that you cannot be completely open with anyone else. We all keep some things inside and can get sick because we feel like there is no one to talk to. Well believe this: David had no one to talk to and somehow he managed to maintain a peace of mind because he knew that he could unload on God and that God would listen. He also knew that when he did that, he would remember in his mind some other important things about God. He will recall God's unfailing love. Something that is virtually impossible to find anywhere else. He will remember the times when God was so good to him and know that life is not just a bowl of cherries but, as one writer told us, can also be the pits. You have seen the poster that says you weren't promised a rose garden? Well you were, sort of, but not in this life. In this life you will have trouble. Trouble enough to keep you close to God if you are smart but not enough to wipe you out even though it may feel like that at times. See, that is what faith is all about. Faith says that when life gets rally rough you should keep moving forward. If you want to yell at God go ahead but don't give up. Yell and keep moving. There is nothing in this life that can overthrow the will of God. He is supreme and sovereign. Your life is in His hands in the same way that David's life was. If David could get angry, so can you. God loves you and your human reactions do not faze Him. What fazed Him is when you exhibit a lack of faith by giving up. Take courage today and pass that courage on to those around you. Expect that God will show Himself in your life and He will.

May He bless you today. Thank you for reading these Devos. They have been written with you in mind.

Theo