HAVE I GONE TWO STEPS BACKWARD?
Christine Wyrtzen
The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Psalm 116:6
The book of John ends by saying that so much more happened in the life of Jesus that, if it was written down, books could not contain the stories. I’m not alone in wondering what those stories might be. Someday, I believe we’ll know. For now, we read the scriptures with our imaginations and wonder many things about many of God’s servants.
Seeing David’s words today, I wonder what he thought, and felt, as he played his harp for a demented King Saul. A little earlier, he had been anointed king. He knew God chose him for the throne but at that moment, his time in the palace was as a musician, not a king. When God makes a promise, it’s hard to believe it when we perceive we’ve only taken two steps back. Not only was David just a musician but he was asked to serve the very one who wore the crown promised to him.
How has God brought you low? Has He brought you to a place that seems like you’ve gone backwards? Are you being asked to serve someone who is jealous of you? Pray for someone who despises you? Work for someone who is the poorest of leaders?
I have known seasons of languishing under the umbrella of a ‘frenemy’. (A person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.) As I look back, I have many things I regret but I can see that God teaches two things when He brings His child to a low place.
1.) Humility. It is imperative for me to learn to serve others as Jesus served.
2.) The nature of evil. Seasons in which I’m asked to draw close to someone who has it in for me gives me an ‘up close and personal’ experience with ungodliness. This makes me street smart, not only about my own sinful heart, but about those who will cross my path in the future. If I can see this time as being in God’s schoolroom, the time He needs to teach me life skills that are life saving, then I will find peace.
Ultimately, I need to realize that when I see a wilderness as punishment, this is spiritual immaturity. God never takes His child two steps backward. The journey is upward and steady.
No matter how I feel about today, You are teaching me to walk like You. Teach me humility through obedience and wisdom through observing. In Jesus name, Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Thursday, 22 April 2021.
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