God is with us in times of trouble. March 6th 2022
This week I have been tempted to wonder if God truly cares about the world. The news has been difficult to watch and many of us have had to turn away concerned for the sake of our own mental health and wellbeing. What on earth is happening to planet earth? War, flood, drought, fire, famine, fake news, climate change, drug addiction, dysfunctional families, dysfunctional governments, corrupt political powers, abuse of human rights, and crazy power-hungry dictators all bear down us and our societies.
When Lord will your realm of justice come into being?
How much more suffering must the world and all living things go through?
How much suffering must we endure in our own lives?
The Psalm we have heard today offers us comfort and hope, yet it can also be misread as a promise that God will somehow magically take us out of every difficult situation. We know that evil can strike all people, the good and the not so good alike, bad things will happen, whether it be flood waters lapping at our doors, and washing away our livelihoods or soldiers aiming missiles at our city, and as a counterpoint to the brave words of the psalm, if you want to have a go at jumping into a lion enclosure or purposely stepping on a snake you are going to get bitten. So what is this Psalmist going on about and why does this person have such trust in a God who seems allows so much trouble on planet earth.
Is wondering if God truly cares about the world blasphemous? Is it wrong, does it make me a poor Christian? Should I instead, like some of our Pentecostal brothers and sisters in Christ assume that because I am a faithful Christian, God will make my life an easy journey marked by prosperity, good health, good times, and a comfortable home?
A few years ago when I was awaiting the results of some medical test results, a Christian friend who is still caught up in what we call ‘prosperity doctrine’ told me that she was sure everything would be alright and that the results would come back negative. I told her that either way God would be with me. Like the psalmist I knew that when I called on God, God would hear me, I knew that God would be with me in trouble. That little phrase in today’s psalm is the standout phrase for me and today I can say that I am thankful that I had to undergo treatment for cancer. It deepened my trust in God and gave me a new perspective on life, faith, and religion. It wasn’t all so rosy though and there were times when I had to raise my angry fist heavenward and say, Why God why?
I know that it is perfectly acceptable to utter those kinds of words in desperate prayer. It is also acceptable to question at times God’s providence, God’s care, and God’s compassion for us and this crazy, broken world. I know that because in today’s gospel reading Jesus is forced to question God’s trustworthiness. Jesus three temptations are often categorized as evils which can seduce all humans at times, and there are many ways to name them, yet at the heart of all three is the basic question, the one that negative thoughts or the devil (you choose how you wish to name that) feed to us; they whisper in our ear, “can you really trust God, does God know what god is doing? does God truly care for you?”
If I came to you and said, “I am really struggling at the moment, the world seems to be full of chaos, does God really care?”, what bible verses or stories would you ground your response in? You may have noticed that in today’s gospel reading Jesus quotes scriptures by memory to answer the devil’s cunning temptations, you may have also noticed that the devil quotes scripture too. The devil is very sneaky, and temptations aren’t always obvious, they wait as our reading says for an opportune time. I would hope that in responding to my dilemma, you would speak to me of the bible verses and stories that really touch your heart, the ones that are embedded in your soul. I will give you some space to think about our own treasury of stories, verses and images that restore your soul and keep you on the right path.
As I have pondered the same question, I have three verses that come to mind, the first is pretty obvious, John 3:16 for God so loved the world, the second is Paul’s outline of the big picture in Romans and 8 and last, because I am such a nature lover I often recall that God cares so much for us and our world that not even a dead bird lying still and lifeless in the middle of the road escapes God’s attention.
The psalmist tells us today that in God’s care we have a shelter, a refuge, and a fortress, for those who can say to God, “I trust you”. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? To trust God, or not, is a choice we are all given, a free choice without any bribes or promises of material prosperity. God could have sweetened the deal and offered us a cushy life; God could have said “turn to me and everything will be a bed of roses”. Instead God offers us something much grander, much larger, and far more interesting, a vision of peace and the reconciliation of all things in the fullness of time. This life offers us much more than immediate gratification, fame, power, and possessions. This journey we are all on, this thing called life, offers us the chance to trust God’s goodness and to trust our own God-given goodness. Yes, it will be tested; may we too be filled with the Spirit just like Jesus, both going into and out of temptations, trials, and trouble.
We will soon be turning our attention to the events of the first Easter, that moment in time when the incarnation, and the resurrection intersect to reveal God’s mighty saving hand. The psalmist writing many years before the birth of Jesus cannot speak of the incarnation, the cross or the resurrection yet he or she knows instinctively that God is the God of salvation. The God of salvation is the God we can trust wholeheartedly revealed to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
As we journey through the season of Lent towards Easter may we be filled with the goodness of God, the one who sustains us, holds us, and keeps us in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death.
God is our refuge and our fortress; in God we trust.
Amen.