Good Times - Bad Times

Monday, October 23, 2023

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.  My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.  Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!  I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.  You satisfy me more than the richest feast.  I will praise you with songs of joy.  I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.  Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.  I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.  

Psalm 63:1-8

If you’ve lived three minutes on this planet you know there is a raging war which cannot be seen.  The battlefield is within, and the fighting is intense every day.  Like the results of a physical conflict, you can see the results of the mental and spiritual battle:  deep furrowed lines on faces, matching the hollowed, empty eyes staring at nothing in particular.  Substances, meant to relieve pain caused by the struggle, have replaced the inner determination to keep breathing, marching, or thinking.  It is survival mode; it is not pretty, a void-like existence…not living. 

There are enough personal stories to illustrate that struggle; we need not point a finger at anyone to understand the reality of abyss-darkness, the place where those who enter must, as Dante penned it, abandon all hope. 

All humans experience fear, loneliness, heartbreak, and grief.  In that internal pain, we tend to dwell on the worst-case scenario…the place where we find ourselves beyond hope, with only the memory of past “good times”.  The memory of “bad times” in the past, drag with them the dread they’ll return.  Strains of the song Never Again play in our head, an unspoken vow of “doing better”.

King David knew, perhaps on the most intense level, both privately and publicly, the heights and depths of both good and bad “times”.  He was a national hero in Jerusalem, favorite to the king, hated and hunted by the same king.  He won battles often, and failed the simple choice of faithfulness, enough to lose a kingdom.  David had known hero and zero in his life, the products of wisdom and foolishness.  He’d been up and down, in and out, and understood the fact that power, riches, pleasure, and pride were (as his son, Solomon would later write[1]) vanity…empty…a languishing, disappearing vapor of hope-turned to despair. 

Now, if this sounds unfamiliar, like it only happens to other people, just hold on; you’re not smarter than Solomon, or better looking and popular than David.  You’ve just not lived long enough, or sinned big enough…yet.  When that time gets here, you don’t have to email or text me about what to do.  David’s inner thoughts, and what he did, how he prayed, and how he depended on God are wiser, better, and stronger than any advice I’d have.  All I would do – all I could do is point you to Psalm 63, and say:  Do what he said!

For You Today 

So-called good times and bad times are part of the human experience. Each person must deal with pain, and enjoy what pleasure God gives us, and leave the balancing of it to Heaven’s lovingkindness and grace.

If you have just come through a night when all you could do is lay awake, opening the painful wounds of your heart to God with tears and that old friend of a question on your mind…WHY, God….Why?...then you’re not far from the kingdom, my friend.  Keep asking, seeking, knocking…His care is near; He’s got you, and His grip is secure!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”  Ecclesiastes 1:2