For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever… (Psalm 37:28a NLT)
I came upon this verse in my devotional time the other day. God never
abandons the godly. He keeps us safe forever. A very comforting Scripture, one we can cling to in times of stress, during struggles.
He never abandons us. He is always by our side, sometimes miraculously delivering us from the trouble. Other times he walks with us, holding our hand, carrying us. Yes, this verse ministered to me that day.
Until…
He hit me with this question: Do I ever abandon him?
My immediate reaction was of course not! What a ridiculous notion!
And then he was silent and left me to ponder. And to admit there are times when I abandon him.
The first is when things are going well. Then it’s easy to let my relationship with him slip. Not as much time listening to him. Prayers become almost rote rather than a conversation.
The other situation where I have abandoned him is when things are going hard. I walk in the attitude that I can handle it myself. Which of course is dumb, but seems perfectly logical in the heat of the struggle. Especially when I let in the enemy’s lie that God doesn’t care about me. That’s why the struggle is so hard and so long. Doubt creeps in, like water eroding a faulty foundation.
I stop trusting in him, stop depending on him. I lose sight of the reality that the struggle is God’s way of maturing and refining me into something better. It strengthens me to not only get through the current struggle but to also be more prepared for greater struggles to come.
It still happens to me, but I’m learning. I’ve learned to recognize it happening. When I do, I stop and turn to him. Sometimes it’s a real quick stop and prayer and I’m back on track. Other times require a longer period of stopping and getting into a quiet place for repentance and deeper conversation with him.
How about you? What do you do when you’ve discovered you’ve abandoned God?
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