Psalm 34:4-8
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
As I awoke Monday morning, ready to start a normal work week, my wife pointed me to the news that was blowing up on my phone. To read the headlines that fifty-eight have been shot and hundreds injured, many feelings come that are hard to even process. We have feelings of anger boil inside of us when we see the depravity of man at extreme levels. How could someone act in this manner and carry out such an evil act? We also have feelings of fear start to entangle us as we think, what will happen next and where will the next location be? Will I be there? Then, we have feelings of sadness for the families that will never be the same because of October 1st 2017.
How do we live with these FEELINGS?
How do we process them?
If I am going to live in a world that is unstable, then I must keep my eyes on a God that is unmovable. If I am going to walk in a world that is full of evil, then I must keep my gaze on a God that is good!
“Wait!” you say, “How could a supreme God be good and allow this to take place?”
There are four truths that I must always remember when I start to question a sovereign God and the evil that takes place in our world.
1> I am not God and I will not understand everything that He does and what He holds back from doing. His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are much higher than my thoughts. My dad use to say, “If we knew everything that God knows then we would not question anything that God does.” However, we do not know what He knows. We must let God be God!
2> I live in a sin fallen world. God created this world flawless! We sinned and we broke God’s creation and now because of sin, evil continues to destroy this world! The Vegas catastrophe was the result of sin! It should not make us point our finger at God and blame Him or get mad at Him for not stopping it. NO! It should make us look up in the heavens and see how desperately we need God! Which leads us to the third one.
3> I long for Christ’s return. When I see news like I saw this morning, I long for Christ to come back and set all things to the way He originally designed them to be! I long for His presence to come and set up His kingdom here on earth! I long for Revelation 21, when God says “The dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be His people and God himself will be with them as their God.” Jesus come quickly.
4> This leads me to the last truth and that is, I have the hope of eternity in me! I know how to walk through pain like we see happening all around us and still have peace! I know who can change ashes into beauty. I must be ready and looking for opportunities to tell of the hope that lies within me!
These are tough days to walk through, but we are the light! Let us shine! Let us look to the One that answers and delivers us from our fears (Ps 34:4). Let us look to the One who makes us radiant. (Ps.34:5). Let us cry out to Him, for He alone can save us from our troubles (Ps.34:6). Let us taste and see that He alone is good (Ps.34:8)! Let us run with the hope of the Gospel! We have the answer! God is on His throne!
All Loss 4 Christ 