Problems pile on until life feels more like a grave than renewed life, and we wonder where God is. The Book of Ruth opens with Naomi back from Moab empty and bitter, renaming herself Mara because the Almighty has dealt harshly with her—still certain God is King, yet unable to see whether that King still loves her. Is there hope when we find ourselves feeling the same way?
Most of us have something weR17;d rather not put on the table before God—something weR17;re holding just tightly enough that we hope He wonR17;t notice. In Luke 18, a ruler who has kept the commandments since his youth comes to Jesus asking what he still must do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus names exactly the one thing he isnR17;t ready to hear.
Amid turkey and pie and football, we can list what weR17;re thankful for and still miss the point. Psalm 95 wonR17;t let us settle for vague gratitude; it calls us to sing to the Lord and come into His presence with thanksgiving to the rock of our salvation.
As the Israelites finds themselves out in the wilderness for years, Numbers 20 shows a people in a fog of discouragement R12; even Moses himself loses sight of what God is doing. But even when the discouragement feels overwhelming, we donR17;t have to let it get the final word.
Whatever looks triumphant—the people and things we hold out as the absolute measure of concrete, dependable success—still meets death that tramples it. Isaiah warns that rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the Lord will perish. What then are we going to hold onto?
We know weR17;re going to die—itR17;s as inevitable as buttered toast landing face-down—but Romans 6:5 asks whether that death has to mean the same thing it did before Christ.
What looks successful is not always healthy, especially when everyone depends on one gifted leader. In Exodus 18, Jethro watches Moses carry the people’s disputes from morning until evening and warns that both Moses and the people will wear themselves out. How does God actually intend his people to serve together?
Paul left a wide path of destruction as he went city to city persecuting GodR17;s people, and yet in 1 Timothy 1:15, even as he names himself the foremost of sinners Jesus came to save, he can say that last part: Jesus came to save him. And He came to save us, too.
Music has a way of dealing with all sorts of struggles, even the ones that come while trying to create with the gifts God gave. You end up feeling like heaven is being forced to marry hell, wondering if God is near or far as you wait. Psalm 10 meets us in exactly that cry.
Deep down, even people who come to God carry a fear that He will eventually give up on them — that sooner or later theyR17;ll be shown the door. That fear is exactly what Jesus meets head-on in John 6.