Bottom line up front: The Faithfulness of God

Questions: Have you ever felt like you prayed lead balloon prayers? Have you ever felt like your prayers went no farther than the nearest ceiling? Have you ever felt like your petitions fell on deaf ears? Because of pride, many folks would be reluctant to admit they have felt that way, but I’d wager that many people have experienced those emotions, sometimes profoundly.

Take Comfort in Fellow Believers from History: In the 94th psalm, the writer laments the seeming triumphs of wicked people. The speaker in the poem cries out in verse 3, “O LORD, how long shall the wicked,/how long shall the wicked exult?” That’s a cry of anguish at an existential level. The speaker is in anguish because things seem upside down from the way they ought to be. The innocent are seemingly forsaken and the guilty people prosper.

It reminds one of the 73rd psalm where Asaph writes, “For I was envious of the arrogant/when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Ps 73:4) and later that “pride is their necklace” (Ps 73:6a) and again, “And they [the wicked] say, “How can God know?/Is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Ps 73:11). Short answer: Yes. There is perfect, 100% knowledge with the Most High. Omniscience. That’s an eternal attribute of the true and living God.

So, if you and I have ever battled those seasons where it seems the wicked prosper and the godly suffer; if we battle seeing duplicity rewarded and integrity banished; if we feel like our prayers to the Lord bounce back to us unheard and unheeded, we need only turn to Scripture to see that we’re not to live via our feelings but to live according to the Word of God. We’re not to look unto ourselves but to God. We’re to trust the Lord, knowing that He does what is best. Don’t we remember the words God spoke to the father of the faith, Abraham: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen 18:25).

Encouragement: Through this continuing government shutdown, I am learning—once again—that God will provide. He is faithful. He allows suffering and scarcity at times, yes. He allows the wicked to prosper for seasons, yes. He allows the crafty to slither their ways into positions, yes. But we need to focus on how those stories ended: Herod was eaten by worms; Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a bestial bovine-like man; and Satan was crushed by the risen Christ. God is indeed faithful, and He sees you and sees me, and He (unlike His adversaries) is altogether good.