I am reading through the Psalms and have come across a passage that brought a tough question to my mind…

The passage is Psalm 77~feel free to open your Bible to it while we chat for a minute first.

I am reading from the Amplified version lately~to get a new spin on the translation! The study notes in it provide a good commentary that brings historical insight and probing wisdom.. .I am enjoying it’s diversity from the NIV.

The question I find myself asking while reading this passage is this:

Does what I KNOW of God contrast with what I am currently experiencing???

What do I mean by that??

Let me explain…

I KNOW God to be loving, generous, merciful, kind, good…

However, my experiences challenge my thinking when they severely clash with all that He is.

The note in the Bible says that “the more that the Psalmist thought about these things {the things that contrast what we KNOW about God} the more troubled he became”.

The more the writer thought about how different he thought his circumstances were from what he envisioned a Kingdom Life should look like, he became troubled.

One could even go so far to say that he became confused about who he believed God to be.

I think this is a good place to interject that there is an enemy that is fighting for our souls and to destroy us. This enemy is Satan and he is most tricky in the area of confusion. When we are confused about something or someone, we lose trust in what we know to be true.

I confess to being a distracted driver at times. Not too long ago, I was thinking about the task I needed to do next and accidentally turned left when I should have gone straight.

When I became aware of my surroundings, I could not figure out where on earth I was. Nothing looked familiar.

(I was less than 1 mile from my house were have lived for the last 18 years).

I was terrified.

I was confused.

I thought something was terribly wrong with me.

How did this happen? How did I get here? Where is here??

Suddenly, a house and a street sign looked familiar….it was a road I drive on at least 20 times every single week for the last 10 years while taking my kids to school.

But, out of context with what I thought to be true and real, I did not recognize it…which allowed for fear and doubt to easily settle in.

FEAR AND DOUBT ARE THE DEVILS FAVORITE DAGGERS TO STAB INTO US AND TO USE TO IMMOBILIZE US.

Do you see why the more the writer of Psalm 77 focused on what seemed different in his experience and the true character of God the more confused he became??

Fear and doubt…

Verse 2-3~

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;

In the night my hand was stretched out (in prayer) without weariness;

My soul refused to be comforted.

I remember God; then I am disquieted and I groan; I sigh and my spirit grows faint…

What does the writer do in his confusion?

What do we do when fear and doubt about the character of God settles in- making our souls refuse comfort and our spirits to grow faint?

Verse 6~

I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches:

Verse 11-12~

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; I will remember Your wonder of old.

I will meditate on all Your works an thoughtfully consider all Your deeds…

Verse 13~

What God is like our God?

The writer (Asaph) “did not feel any more at peace, but he made a conscious effort to turn away from his pain and focus his thoughts on the person, works, and wonders of God.”

My life seems to have gotten more complicated since I started to follow Christ and then rise to the call on my life to go into a full time ministry for Him…these last 8 years or so have been met with challenges I never saw coming, never thought would be possible, never imagined could happen to “us”.

It began with my marriage crumbling in front of my eyes as I learned to really trust Christ…I had unspeakable fear in those days of what I could lose and vividly imagined how it could come about…

Fear and doubt became my bedmates…with anxiety a frequent companion.

Talk about the devil immobilizing me in that dark place…

However, I learned how to trust God when the situation seemed hopeless and impossible (dare I remind you that it is in the impossible that God does His greatest work???).

In that time of letting go of my expectations, my hopes and dreams, my visions of security I learned that if God is for me than who could be against me??

I learned about angel armies surrounding me.

I learned about dry bones coming to life.

I learned that a heart of stone could be made into a heart of flesh.

The lessons in those days are what I have chosen to recall in the more recent circumstances…and I remember the faithfulness of God through it all.

He never left me.

He always held me in the shelter of His wings.

He protected me.

He led me through the valley…

Like Asaph, my situations may not be changed and I may not have peace about them…but, when I choose to focus on the person, works, and wonders of God I do have PEACE just the same.

Why?

Because His character is PEACE.

Jesus said “My peace I give to you”…

Where is my focus?

Am I looking at the problem or the Creator?

Good question to think about…

Post Script to those wondering:

We are celebrating our 20th anniversary right now on the beautiful coast of Maine…