Conundrum: a riddle, anything that puzzles
Or another definition might be: God is God, and I’m not. As a Bible believing Christian, I trust in the Word of God, that it is faithful and true, that what God says He will do, He will do. However. I know I’m not alone when I’ve observed that the promises do not always seem to be true, or at the very least arbitrary: His followers die of disease, they suffer financial loss outside their control, they are persecuted and killed, marriages end in divorce, children go astray.
Nevertheless. I want to share with you one of the most powerful translations of Psalm 91 that I have read. It is a Psalm of divine protection, imagery that is both sublime and empowering. The opening three verses set the stage:
When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
2 He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence.
3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy,
and he will protect you from false accusation
and any deadly curse.
And again in verses 9-10:
When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High,
our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm.
How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?
Yes. Indeed. So what do we do with the examples we all can cite wherein this is not “true”? Can we say it’s because we or someone else is not properly living according to God’s sheltering righteousness? If we had to be perfectly righteous to receive His deliverance and grace, we would all be doomed. Yet, there is definite blessing promised to living in close fellowship with God. As mentioned in other posts here, we often view God’s promises and vision from a limited, earthly perspective. I have found that much of Christian experience is a paradox: gaining from losing, life from death, peace and freedom through forgiveness, salvation through sacrifice. Far more brilliant scholars than I are not able to explain why God does or allows those things that seem contrary to His promises, but we all must conclude in the end that God, if He is sovereign at all, has His reasons, and as the cliché goes, ours is not to reason why. Hard? Yeah.
So how to we hang on to the promises? By faith. We never know when this just might be the time our desires and His purposes align. And, whether they do or not, we can know absolutely that He is faithful to complete all He begins, and He begins a good work in us at the moment of salvation. Should we give up and despair asking for healing, deliverance, provision, safety? Never, as Paul would say. I continue to pray and assert as true Psalms like this one, because they are true, even if the evidence is beyond our understanding. Take heart, Beloved, God is in His heavens and He does as He pleases. Today just may be the day He pleases to do what you are asking of Him!
This Isn't All There Is 