WHEN I MOMENTARILY GIVE UP ON GOD
by Christine Wyrtzen
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Psalms 4:6-7
David and his closest advisors are on the run from his son Absalom. The king and his royal court are living in hills and caves. How un-king like. Doesn’t this give us a picture of the political shifting in the Middle East today? Leaders are deposed quite easily by an overnight revolt. David is innocent. His son is evil – following the promptings of the prince of darkness. Things appear to have deteriorated permanently.
His closest advisors certainly think so as David overhears them ask the question, “Who will show us some favor, Lord? Will you?” They refer to the Aaronic blessing from Numbers. ‘May the light of His favor shine upon you and give you peace.’ They long to see proof of it. Momentarily, they have given up on God because of their dire circumstances.
David, amazingly, hasn’t lost sight of who God is and what God has promised him. He sincerely tells them that God has put more joy in his heart, in his present circumstances, than the joy his enemies feel as they sit on their stolen throne. There has to be a lot of spiritual preparation before a storm for a child of God to know such things. All the more reason for me to prepare for dark times because they will come to all of us. My response is shaped ahead of time ~ in the light.
Has God’s favor left me when I am persecuted? No more than it left Jesus as He walked to Calvary. Jesus could separate His circumstances and the hatred of others from the favor of His Father and his awaiting glorification. When I’m giving up on God, what can I focus on?
• I am still forgiven of every thing I’ve ever done.
• I am still dressed in the undeserved righteousness of Jesus.
• I am still walking toward a destiny that no man can steal.
• I am loved unconditionally by my Father though I suffer the arrows of another’s scorn.
• I can rest in every single promise God has made to me. Not one has been taken back.
• I am bathed in the favor of God and every spiritual enemy can see it.
Though I may look at others today and see that their personal power is at its height, that their grain and their wine abound, I must know that it is fleeting. I must also ask the question, “At what cost are they enjoying their power? Whose favor is really upon them?” As our daughter, Jaime, said as we recalled our favorite childhood stories, “Let me be Cinderella who had it rough for a period of time. In the end, she inherited the kingdom. The entitled step sisters were nowhere to be found.”
Indeed! Present circumstances mean nothing if they beg to nullify my awaiting glorification.
I consider all the reasons I might give up on You. None of them will stand. In Jesus’ name, Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 04 January 2021.
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