TODAY IS…

a good day to remember to turn to God first in times of adversity.

“In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge.”  Psalm 31:1a NASB

Can anyone think of a better place to take refuge in times of trouble than in the Lord?

The truth of the matter? There is no better place.

But unfortunately, as humans, some of us are initially inclined to feel abandoned by God during times of adversity or crisis.

“In panic, I cried out, ‘I am cut off from the Lord!’” (Psalm 31:22a NLT).

David was often quick to feel as if he was facing his troubles alone; quick to wonder why God had left him when he needed him the most; quick to question why God had failed to immediately rescue him from his difficulties. David did have faith in God and that faith always enabled him to trust God in the end. He invariably set aside his claims that God wasn’t responding rapidly enough on his behalf and would ultimately praise God and affirm his faith in Him.

“But I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.” (Psalm 13:5-6 NLT).

As our faith grows and our bond with God becomes stronger, turning to Him during times of adversity will become second nature. God will become our first thought and not an afterthought.

Like David, we may sometimes become impatient with God. Other times, we may wonder where God is when bad things happen. We may even find ourselves wondering why He allows bad things to happen at all. We forget that living a godly life does not guarantee that things will not go wrong in our lives or that we will not suffer. What it does guarantee is that we have God to turn to when those things do happen.

Often, whether we care to admit it or not, there is a direct relationship between the bad things that happen to us and how we live our lives. Many times our sinful nature leads to our problems. A closer relationship with God can minimize the effect our sinful nature has on us.

We will sin. We will never be sinless, but when we are constantly working on our relationship with God, we will sin less.

The power of the Lord is formidable.

There is no greater source of grace, forgiveness, love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness and compassion in existence. When faced with adversity, regardless of its origins, the first thing we should do is thank God that He is right there with us to free us from the anxiety we would feel facing our problems alone.

George Gordon, Lord Byron, once wrote, “Adversity is the first path to truth.”

The Lord is truth and He once said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32 KJV).

*******

Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson