The One We Believe

May 27

"In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness." Psalm 31:1

We tend to become anxious when our circumstances appear to be beyond our control. We want to feel like we are in command of the things we face but often we are not. It is comforting to us at those times to lean on the truth that even when we have not employed the power He’s given to us to transform our challenges into our victories, HE is still Lord over all the universe—including our problems.

David expresses our heart in the psalm quoted above. He reflects our yearning to find security within the high tower of His love and salvation. In Psalm 144:2 David says it this way, “You are my refuge and my strength, my strong tower of safety, my deliverer.”

The reality is that life is fraught with trial. “The rain falls on the just and on the unjust; the sun shines on the just and on the unjust,” Matthew 5:45, states clearly that good and bad things befall all people—even professors of faith in Jesus our Lord.

In fact, Jesus told us to be prepared for trying circumstances. In John 16:33 He said, “In the world you shall have tribulation…” He didn’t want the unfortunate realities of life to take us off-guard. But, He didn’t leave us in the quandary of them! No! He went on to conclude in that verse, “…but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”

Whether our problems are health problems, or relational problems, or societal problems, or problems rooted in our very belief in Jesus (indeed He has said, “If the world has hated Me, it shall hate you also,” John 15:18), may we not be overburdened by our difficulties! Rather may we stand on the assurance that Jesus is in charge and that He will ultimately prevail.

May we say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed to Him…” II Timothy 1:12. May we be persuaded because the One we believe is the One who is “…the TRUTH…” John 14:6.