No Way

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional: THE ONLY WAY PEOPLE FIND MY FAITH CREDIBLE

Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope.  Psalm 119:116

            Can others see that I have put all my hope in God?  Not if they don't see something supernatural.  If I live by my flesh, never take a risk, never soar above my problems, never forgive instead of talk about injustice, never give God glory when my trials would otherwise swallow me up, others will not see anything that doesn't look like normal human behavior.  When I speak of God, they will easily discount my faith because I think and act like everyone else.

            Job has become a spiritual legend because he never cursed God.  That is his greatest hallmark.  Who does that when their life completely crumbles around them? When my losses begin to compile and, one by one, things and people are taken from me, God can begin to look guilty.

            Every person tends to have a limit, a straw that breaks the camel's back.  When that 'thing' happens, we throw up our hands and say, "That's it!  God can't be trusted."  Our face turns sour, our trust erodes, our praise disappears, and our testimony ends.  We are put to shame by those who are looking for any excuse to turn their backs on God.

            David knew how tenuous his praise was.  He cried out for God to hold him up lest his faith fail.  If ever David had reason to wonder if God had abandoned him, David did.  Yet, he clung to faith and the awareness that someone in the throes of a trial cannot see the big picture.  He trusted an eternal, sovereign God, and never let fear and deception about God's character take root.  He declared Yahweh glorious despite the circumstances.

When others speak of my life, may they say... "There's no way anyone could have survived that without God."  I want you to be glorified in my life on the worst of days.  Uphold me so that I can be faithful to praise you.  Amen