By DoEun

Read: Leviticus 4:1-5:19, Mark 2:13-3:6, Psalm 36:1-12, Proverbs 10:1-2

O Lord, Your loving-kindness goes to the heavens. You are as faithful as the sky is high.
Of what great worth is Your loving-kindness, O God! The children of men come and are safe in the shadow of Your wings.
Psalm 36:5,7

Relate: When I was thirteen, my teacher told me something disturbing that never seemed to leave my mind: “God will take away what you love more than Him for you to realize how much you need Him.” This statement played relentlessly in my mind for the entire day, but I tried to reason to myself that God, being a loving Father, would never do such a thing, especially because my parents were my only reason to continue living.

However, my worst nightmare became a reality when, less than a year later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, my father was diagnosed with cancer. After the initial shock, my thoughts were clouded with just one question; why? I had previously declared to God that I would stay alive as long as my parents were on the earth. So why? Why was this happening to my dad? Why does everything bad happen to me and not others? The overwhelming anxiety that I felt slowly morphed into anger as I started to question God. To my thirteen-year-old self, it seemed like God had abandoned me. If God loved everyone and if He was faithful to His promises, why was my entire life just drenched in misery? Did God want me to die? To me, the Bible seemed like a lie. I found myself straying from God, unable to trust Him. And although I didn’t see it then, I was slowly killing myself by distancing myself from Him. 

React: Life is akin to the ocean. At times, there is peace and calm. However, more often than not, storms brew, and waves crash down as people cling to their rafts. During the storms in our lives, we’d be lying if we said it was easy to stay faithful and follow God. Whether it be a breakup, losing a job, missing an opportunity, or the passing of a loved one, anger toward God can be much easier to feel than trust. These storms in our lives may create the feeling that God left us to fend for ourselves. However, David reminds us in this Psalm that the Lord’s love for us reaches the heavens. Instead of blaming Him, we are to be vulnerable and take refuge in the Lord.

In Jeremiah 29:11, God promises us that His plans for us will be for our good. Meanwhile, Psalms 36:5 serves as our reminder that the Lord is faithful. He has and will continue to keep every single promise that He has made to us. If the Lord nourishes the grass on the fields, which is so tiny compared to everything else in the world, who is to say that He won’t do the same for us (Matthew 6:30)? He will do it for us, whom He loves so very much, and He is faithful. If the God who calmed the sea declares that He loves us and is faithful in His promises to us, there is nothing to fear as He can do the same for us and those we love. During the storms in our lives, we must remember that God is always present with us. Although we may not see the purpose of our suffering at the moment, He surely has a plan that will let us prosper. As long as our eyes remain on Him, He will guide us.

Respond:

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for everything that you have done in my life. Thank you for not giving up on me when I was at my lowest and instead came knocking on the door of my heart. Lord, I pray as things currently seem to get stormier, that you will help me keep my eyes on you. I pray for your protection and your comfort. Please bless me with your guidance and wisdom. I pray that you will help me see everything that you’ve done for me.
Amen.

Nearly all posts in February and March have as special guest authors the Juniors from the Christian Living class at Faith Academy.