Now, in life, hard things will happen. We live in a fallen world marked by sin and selfishness. When you are on the ropes, God is faithful and His heart cares for people dealing with the consequences of their own sin and rebellion. When things go from bad to worse, how should we respond?
Will You Double Down?
When we devote ourselves to idols—something less than God—we become less human. We shrivel up and turn inwards on ourselves as we become sad self-centered shells of wasted human potential. But if we worship the triune God of the Bible—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we will become more like Him, overflowing in peace, love, and joy, and will become more truly human than we ever thought possible. When trouble comes, will we pursue something other than God in the hopes that it will save us?
Will We Believe the Promises of God?
- The Promise of Deliverance: If God loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you when you were his enemy, will he forget about that later and not keep you when you have been adopted into his family as his true child?
- The Promise to Overcome any Obstacles: In God’s hands, even bruised and broken people can have victory over the scariest of circumstances. The mountains themselves would be like grain if they stood in his way. This is a promise to overcome any obstacle, especially your own doubts.
- The Promis to Supply all your Needs: If God supplies all your needs, you need never fear poverty, not because you won’t be poor, but because your poverty has no impact on God’s ability to feed you.
Will We Put Our Fears and Doubts to the Test?
God is simultaneously inviting the reader to question themselves and question God. He isn’t speaking words of condemnation to the nations but graciously, patiently inviting them to look at the data! Who is most trustworthy?
Have you been hit enough times to consider that God might be better qualified to be in charge of your life than you are? Is there anyone or anything else out there that has a stronger claim on your allegiance than He does? Is there someone else you would rather follow? If you have doubts about the Bible, about Jesus, about the church, God can stand up to the test!
