Psalm 84:11 – For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly
Do you ever struggle to accept something you know is true? Sometimes, I struggle to accept the truth that God will not withhold good from me. (Psalm 84:11) When I was in 2nd grade, I lost my left side incisor tooth (the one beside my front tooth). I waited for a permanent tooth to replace it, but it never came. My dentist assured me that it was not an unknown phenomenon. He also shared that there was a widely used, minimally invasive procedure to place an artificial tooth permanently in the empty spot that would not be noticeable. Well, 16 years and 4 surgical procedures later I still do not have a permanent solution. What should have been a relatively easy fix turned out to be a painful and embarrassing journey. This was obviously God withholding good from me, right?
Wrong! Psalm tells us that God will not withhold good from his children. How then can my circumstances sometimes feel like they are the opposite of good? Wrestling with this biblical truth has brought me to the conclusion that sometimes when things are bad it’s because God is building a better version of good than I could ever imagine. In this journey with my teeth, the Lord has been so faithful to me. I have been supported and well loved by my family and friends at all points of the journey. In the times where I felt embarrassed or apprehensive, God has worked in the people around me to provide me with the affirmation I needed to keep going. Most incredibly, the Lord has used this journey to help me understand the importance of depending on his strength and not my own.
If you are struggling to accept that your current circumstances do not mean that God is withholding good from you, then I want to share some encouragement in your suffering. God loves you and He is building a greater good for you than you could have chosen on your own. You may walk through suffering to get there, but hold fast my friends, because our God is so good. I encourage you to take some time today to meditate on that biblical truth and seek deeper understanding and clarity from God.
Lord, we come to you expectant of your goodness and glory. Even when that feels like we are in the darkest of night, we know that you are our sun and shield. We know that you do not withhold good from us. We praise you in our sufferings and we thank you for building a greater good than we could imagine on our own. We ask for your blessing during this season of Lent and give glory to your life, death, and resurrection. Amen.
-Kaitlin Page, Hall Director for King and Wright Halls
Comments