Psalm 37:18,19,23,24 “The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty…If the Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
The main paradox of faithful living is that God uses trouble and turns it into something great or beautiful! He gets the glory and others get to see His transforming grace up close and personal. As His beloved, we learn to live comfortably in the paradoxes of being weak, but ultimately strong; persecuted, but not left alone; having nothing, but possessing so much; slapped down, but not wiped out; unsteady, but not free-falling. Like David, we use Psalm 37 to pour out our hearts to God in prayer. We don’t repress or vent our persecutions or knockdowns, but we redirect these to God. We leave timing, methods, vindication, and vengeance completely up to Him. We don’t allow fretting to chew us up and paralyze us.
Faithful living is a glorious puzzle. In the Lord, we have abundance in spite of painful losses and defeats. It is a paradox – death and life simultaneously. By God’s Holy Spirit, we can die and live faithfully so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in us!
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