Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

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Read

Psalm 73 (NRSV)

Truly God is good to the upright,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.

Therefore the people turn and praise them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been plagued,
and am punished every morning.

If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.

When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast toward you.
Nevertheless I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me with honor.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
you put an end to those who are false to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
to tell of all your works.

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Reflect

I suspect that most of us at some point in our life have felt as the psalmist did at the beginning of this passage. We have most likely all looked at someone who seemed to have everything going for them despite the fact that they were not living a Christian life. In many cases their lives were completely opposite of how a Christian should live. Of course, in such instances we ask the age old question, “Why?”

There seems to be a perception that being a Christian automatically means good things will come to you and that your life will be easy. I don’t know where this concept originated because the Bible clearly indicates that the life of a Christian will not be easy. When teaching youth at church or camp, I often reference Paul when making this point. After becoming a Christian, Paul was imprisoned, ridiculed, beaten, rejected, and ultimately killed for his faith.

While as Christians we believe that God has a plan and purpose for our lives and that in the end everything will be all right, we will continue to have problems and struggles. In fact, being a Christian often creates problems because God asks us to follow a path that is distinctly different from those of the world. Our path is made easier, however, with the knowledge expressed by the psalmist at the end of the psalm. God is with us—guiding our path, encouraging us, and providing a place of refuge from the storms and struggles of life.

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Pray

Dear Lord, help us to accept your guiding hand as we walk the path you have for us. May we remember that when we are weak, you are strong. Give us the strength to live the life to which you have called us. Amen.

Go with God.