Devotion 5 – Joy in the Struggle
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” -Psalm 23:5,6 (NIV)
Imagine being so confident in the goodness and love of God that you can rejoice and recognize his blessing even when you are faced with terrifying circumstances. How did David do it? He was chased by Saul and his armies. He faced many enemies. And yet he was able to say,
“He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil.” Psalm 23:3,4
Have you ever felt it? An unexplained joy and peace in the middle of the storm? I must confess that more often than not, I let my fear blind me and I miss out on the joy and peace that perfect trust in God can bring. But I have experienced a few awe-inspiring moments of connection with God during the deepest struggles of my life that have inspired me to worship in confidence like the psalmist declared, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life!”.
In particular, I remember two different occasions. The first was the day after my son had relapsed again into an addiction to opiates. We had lost contact with him but knew that he was on a binge. That night, I went to a group meeting for family members of addicts. These meetings are non-religious although they do encourage members to seek out a “higher power”. Many members have no prior understanding of God. Others are atheists. Still others have had negative experiences with religion. The program provides support for family members of addicts and gives helpful steps to recovery, much like AA does for the alcoholic. I went that night to a meeting, as I often did, and God went with me. When it was my turn to share: I talked about God’s faithfulness and about how I knew that when I could not be with or help my addicted son, God was with him, and he saw him. I spoke about how my faith was essential to me so that I could find peace in the uncertainty. I left the meeting feeling strengthened. The next morning, I began to pray on my way to work. As I prayed, a powerful and unexplainable feeling of joy poured over me as I realized that I had just done battle with the enemy and won!
Satan wanted to destroy me and my faith in God through my son’s relapse, but in fact just the opposite had occurred: I proclaimed the goodness and faithfulness of God to a group of seekers who might otherwise never have heard this good news. Another significant moment of peace came the day my mom lost her fight to lung cancer. She died in April 2020: a time when many loved ones were dying alone in hospitals due to Covid Restrictions. Our family made the decision that our mom would die surrounded by loved ones. So, we signed the paperwork that would allow her to remain at home in her last hours.
Easter weekend, hours before Easter Sunday, we sat around her bed singing worship songs as my mother moved from this life to eternity. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I could barely get out the words, but they rang true: “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because
he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know, I know he holds the future…”. Later that night, I reflected on the timing of my mom’s passing. In God’s goodness, He brought her home in time for Easter: a day that because of Jesus’ resurrection we have HOPE in eternity. I was filled with joy and peace knowing that she would be celebrating Jesus’ resurrection with Jesus face-to-face.
Both of those experiences had one thing in common: I stopped seeing the experience in the natural and I started to see it through a spiritual lens. This happens through worship. This happens through trust and confidence in the goodness and faithfulness of God. The same
goodness and love that chased after and surrounded David wherever he went, is available for us too.