When our life circumstances conflict with our
perceptions of God, our struggle is intense.
Our reality reflected by our physical situation and our
reality reflected by godly expectations conflict.
We do not wish to abandon either, but reconciling these
conflicting realities distresses us.
This psalmist’s physical situation was
terrible! His distress
wanted a quick response from God.
His days evaporated, his bones felt like they were on fire,
his heart was sick, and his appetite was gone.
He felt out-of-place, sleepless, lonely, and ridiculed.
He had horrible food, felt abandoned by an angry God, and
felt his life quickly slipping away.
Israelites loved symbolically significant
Jerusalem. God would see
the city’s prominence restored. He had not abandoned His people or
His city.
Future generations must know that God did not
abandon His people! The
psalmist made no attempt to explain the situation.
He understood that God remained though everything He made
wore out and was discarded.
Earthly changes did not affect God’s durability!
Though everything would be discarded when it
“wore out,” God did not “wear out.”
There would be a time when God’s human children would
securely thrive in God’s presence.
Reconciling the known while grasping the causes
of situations is not simple.
At times we encounter experiences that defy our
understanding. The
circumstances do not fit our expectations.
We want to transform all “faith relationships”
to “fact relationships.”
Many of our godly expectations are based on what we perceive to be
“facts” produced by our understandings. The
result: a human confusion produced by human expectations based on
human experiences.
What are your godly expectations?
Link to other Writings of David Chadwell