“Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh, He is my song”
I looked around the room in church one Sunday when singing the above song about God (King of my Heart) and wondered if I was the only one who couldn’t join in the chorus. God had let me down, badly.
How about you? Has injustice hurt you or those you love, has God allowed a tragedy or illness that doesn’t make sense, have you felt blind-sided and unprotected?
Does it feel like He’s let you down?
I suppose it’s how we look at it.
My hardships have tested my faith. I’ve come to realize that although the world crumbles in trouble and my circumstances don’t always work out how I’d hoped, God is faithful through the trials.
A quick look back into the Bible I can see this to be true. Stephen was stoned to death for his faith. Did God let him down? Well, Stephen was given a beautiful vision of heaven as he was being martyred and filled with such peace and love that he prayed for God to not hold this sin against those killing him (Acts 7:54-60). Stephen went to heaven as a worshipper and an inspiration to many. God gave him the grace to be martyred as a victor. And he will certainly wear a victor’s crown and reign with Christ in eternity. Was God faithful? I’d say, “Yes.”
What about the apostle Paul, missionary and author of much of the New Testament? He faced floggings, shipwreck, imprisonment, false arrest, poverty, derision, and a thorn in his flesh. Yet God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” Did God ever make his calling easy? No, in fact Paul suffered very much for the gospel. Yet, through all this suffering Paul tells believers to rejoice in the Lord and to pray with thanksgiving. He told them, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).” Paul said these things because he knew them first hand; he had God’s PEACE! Was God faithful? Again, I’d say, “Yes.”
Both Stephen and Paul could have felt let down by God, but their eyes were on something different than their circumstances. They were living for Him no matter the cost.
In our lives, we might experience a miraculous rescue story. Or, we might get through an unchanging, difficult circumstance with the strength and grace God provides. Either way, He’s faithful.
Instead fixating on the story you want, will you look for God’s grace instead? In that arena, “He’s never gonna let you down.”