Forgiveness

Pain can have such a debilitating effect.  I woke up this morning in the beauty and majesty of a Massachusetts's state park excited to meet with the Lord and I was met with a fierce wall of pain.

I had a margarine that was so severe that I felt as if I would throw up if I moved.

I tried to sit and take in the beauty all around me but only found myself able to cry to the Lord for relief.  I was unable to read my Bible, unable to sit in silence and meet with the Creator in the refreshing way that I had longed for since we had begun preparing for our journey.

I was reminded of my dear friend who has been fighting cancer and how she has faced debilitating pain every day for an extended period of time.  She has been unable to manage her pain and I wondered how that has the ability to effect her time with the Lord.

We have prayed and asked the Lord to heal her and we have prayed for relief from this consuming pain that she faces each day but He seems to be unresponsive.

The Lord is in the very midst of our pain and suffering.  Although we may not be able to experience relief or spend time with Him in the way that we envision, He is right there when we call out to Him.

Psalm 86 gives us a picture of a desperate cry for help

Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.  Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you- you are my God.  Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.  Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Pain has the ability to rob us of our joy and peace.  The psalmist realizes this and asks the Lord to gladden his soul.  God has the ability to bring us joy in the midst of great difficulty.

The psalmist continues his prayer by declaring the goodness of the Lord:

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

They rest in the knowledge of God.  Just because we do not experience relief immediately or ever does not mean that we can not declare the goodness of the Lord but pain so distracts us from this positioning of our hearts to declare that He is good.

Does that mean that during those times God is not good?  Of course not but we are weak and frail and prone to distraction.

The next part of the psalm we see the writer asking God to listen to his prayer.

Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.  In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

He is desperate for God to hear and respond to his prayer and he reminds himself that God is faithful to answer his prayers.

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,

nor are there any works like yours.

All nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

For you are great and do wondrous things;

you alone are God.

He is reminding himself who God is and how He has acted in the past.  He is declaring his dependance and expectancy on the Lord.

But he realizes that he is hindered by his situation from seeing God rightly.  When we endure struggles, pain and suffering our view of God is in jeopardy of being diminished but we need to rally our souls through the reading of His word and remind ourselves of His faithfulness to hear and respond to us in our time of need even if He doesn't answer the way that we desire Him to answer.

My headache subsided but my friend is still waiting on the Lord for her healing.  We need to be taught by the Lord.

Teach me your way, O LORD,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

Let us not exchange the truth of who God is while we suffer, for the lie that says He is unavailable, deaf to our cries, unable to powerfully show up in our lives when we know that He is!

Jesus shows us that He is willing and able to come and heal and save us!

The psalmist has a revelation of God as he finishes his song with thanksgiving;

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with

my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your steadfast love toward me;

you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

He realizes that the Lord has saved his soul and that is cause enough for rejoicing.

O God, insolent men have risen up against

me;

a band of ruthless men seek my life, 

and they do not set you before them.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast-

love and faithfulness.

Turn to me and be gracious to me;

give your strength to your servant, 

and save the son of your maidservant.

Show me a sign of your favor, 

that those who hate me may see and be

put to shame

because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Despite what pain we face today, God is faithful.  He knows our need and He will help us and comfort us in our time of need.  He has already shown us the lengths to which He will go to provide salvation for us!  

We need a revelation of His love and favor.  We need to ask Him to teach us to walk in His ways and His truth, instead of setting up lies in our minds that He is an unresponsive God.

We need to pray for the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom so that we can understand Him and not be derailed in our thinking as we go through pain and suffering.

We are so prone to make a god in our own image, a god who is unavailable and unwilling to provide help and comfort but this is not the God of the Bible, this is the god of the world. 

Father, let us be renewed by your Word today and take our thoughts captive, being ready to punish any thought that exalts itself above the truth of Christ!