Saturday November 23rd, 2019
"How good God is to the upright, the Lord, to those who are clean of heart! But as for me, I lost my balance; my feet all but slipped, because I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they suffer no pain; their bodies are healthy and sleek. They are free of the burdens of life; they are not afflicted like others...Yet I am always with you; you take hold of my right hand. With your counsel you guide me, and at the end receive me with honor. Whom else have I in the heavens? None besides you delights me on earth. Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever." Psalm 73:1-5, 23-26
So this one, for me, is so relatable. We are not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. We strive to be more like Christ and follow him and live our lives the way God intends. But we don't always get it right. We slip and lose our balance.
We look at those who don't follow Christ and they seem so happy (seem being the important word here). They don't seem to suffer pain and they thrive here on earth. They have everything we think we want. They don't seem to suffer burdens like we do. It is an incredibly appealing evil. And unfortunately, that's how Satan designed it.
Satan made all of the things to draw us away from God so appealing that it would be impossible to resist without God's help. Those who turn away from God are given riches here on earth and it seems so unfair. Why should they get rewarded for such appalling behavior (Planned Parenthood is one of the things that come to mind.) while we suffer?
But God also says that those who receive their reward here on earth have already gotten it and won't receive one after death, but those who don't receive their reward here on earth will receive it in heaven (obviously I'm paraphrasing). So while the wicked seem happy and thrive here on earth, they do not true joy and will not receive their reward after they die.
Even though we know this, it can still be hard not to fall into the trap that Satan has laid out. After all, he even tried to tempt Jesus in the desert, so we're not alone in it. I don't know about you, but that is comforting to me in a way. That even Jesus was tempted by the devil because that means that he knows how appealing it is and he was still able to resist. We can draw on his strength, if we ask for it and are open to receiving it, to battle the temptations that Satan throws at us daily.
I love the last part of this passage because even though we do slip and fall, God is still there holding our hands guiding us back to him. He is ready to honor us even after we've given into those temptations because, like I said in the beginning, we're not perfect and we do fail. But his love is endless and knows no bounds and he takes us back willingly and then rewards us! It just blows my mind when I really think about it. I mean how great is our God that he loves us unconditionally and mercifully and even after we've turned our back on him -- whether it was briefly or it's been years -- he takes us back with open arms. And if we give our lives to him (and for him if the time arises), we are united with him in heaven as our reward. Wow, just wow.
Alright, let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to you today in thanksgiving for the blessings and the struggles in my life. You are a God beyond my understanding and I am blown away by your love for me. Even when I stumble and fall, you pick me up, clean me off, and wrap me in your love. Help me to fight the temptations that threaten to take me away from you. Send your Archangel Michael to fight the demons in front and beside me. Hold my hand, Lord, and guide me down your path. In the words of Asaph, "Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever." Amen.