“Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me.”
Psalm 88:16 NLT
I’m sure I’m not alone in assuming that when bad things struck my life, I must have been responsible in some way. Had I been disobedient? Was there unrecognised and unconfessed sin in my life? These and many other questions swirled around my head. Slowly, I came to realise that my emotional response to trouble was based upon a view that God could only do what I perceived as good and not anything I perceived as evil.
My first inkling that I might be missing something in God’s friendship was as I allowed my eyes to rise from my immediate circumstances. It was self-evident that there were millions of people around the globe who faced challenges without the quality of provision I enjoyed. Katey had full and free medical support. As her condition deteriorated, all the appropriate equipment was made available to her. It didn’t take a genius to see just how fortunate we were compared to those in other parts of the world.
Then I considered, what was it that determined I was born in a wealthy Western nation as opposed to a war-torn nation still engaged in economic development? It was all too easy, and somewhat appealing, to bury my head and only think about my own welfare. Many of the issues that had exercised my energy as a church leader looked ridiculous in comparison to what was going on globally.
There were those who blamed Satan for all that was wrong in the world. Yet God is in charge, and although God’s victory is secure, we await Christ’s return for the conclusion of everything. We are in a state of warfare, for our enemy has not yet accepted the inevitability of defeat and surrendered. There are consequences as we perceive the misery caused in this enduring warfare, from which none of us is protected. I realised I had assumed I was protected from the consequences of war, yet I was not.
I must accept the realities of my world, as others did theirs, with a view to finding faith and demonstrating faithfulness under fire. This was, after all, what Jesus modelled for us.
QUESTION
Consider the plight of others across the world, who haven’t the same privileges you have been born into.
PRAYER
Lord, have mercy and compassion on all those struggling against great poverty, war and hardship.
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