I would have lost Heart

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13,14).

The Psalmist would have lost heart, why? Because the situation must have been so confusing, so horrible, and so hopeless that he would have lost heart but for one thing – his ‘belief’ in God’s goodness that he thoroughly expected to see.

This is not just an optimistic general belief that all will be well in the end somehow, it is an actual belief (faith) that looks past the present distress onto something bigger, stronger and more secure that doesn’t change with the present times. That something is God, who is the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and your Heavenly Father. He is your shield and your fortress, a rock that doesn’t move. But belief in Him, if He didn’t have the one crucial characteristic of goodness would not be very reassuring. Because of His goodness, He is for you and not against you, which means you can truly believe in His promises that He will work everything out for good for His children (Romans 8:28).

So what does this mean? It means that when you are going through a trial so thick and dark that you see no way out of it, you will automatically look up with expectation that somehow He will come through for you. It is hanging onto Him with a dogged determination that refuses to give up hope no matter what provocation comes from the outside. It is also refusing to fall into the ditches on either side of the road: the one of hopelessness that nothing will change, or the one of expecting everything to change on your timing, and then being dashed when it doesn’t. When you look up in faith expecting to see His goodness, you wait with patience for God’s timing and are not discouraged with setbacks. You have this hope because you are resting on someone who controls events, and whose goodness permeates every aspect of your life.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;” Psalm 23:6

In a dark moment, sometimes that goodness is hard to see but it is still true and you just have to accept it by faith. Your eyes may not see it now, but God is in the process of giving you new eyes to see what you couldn’t see before, that His goodness is behind everything that happens to you because He loves you that much.

So what are we to do with the above knowledge in the face of a trial? Don’t lose heart, ‘be of good courage’ and expect to see that goodness work itself out in your present situation. And what does He promise to give us in return?

 That “He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (vs Psalm 27:13, 14).