“I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Psalm 27:13
God is good.
Have you ever struggled to believe that something good will happen? Have you lived under the weight of anxiety or the fear of what could happen? We too often give in to heavy thoughts that make us feel like nothing good could ever happen. We let ourselves live under the weight of where we’ve been or past mistakes. It can be hard to trust God and believe He is good when all of our thoughts and emotions tell us otherwise.
“I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:4
This is one of my favorite verses whenever I am hurting or can’t see beyond my present fears. It is a reminder that God listens. He hears, He delivers, and He is good. He wants us to live beyond our fears and to walk daily in his goodness.
We can choose what we allow ourselves to think about. The more we dwell on our problems, the darker everything seems. The more we trust in God beyond how we feel or what we see, the brighter things will become because we are no longer focusing on the darkness. Trusting that God is entirely good and is truly working things out according to his plans for us allows us to keep moving forward despite unexpected changes.
While we wait.
When we wait on God in the midst of our turmoil and pray for deliverance, He comes through. We don’t always know how He will move externally in our situations, but we can always expect peace and the internal deliverance from our fears.
“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”
Psalm 40:1-3
We might feel downcast, but the truth is that we can hope in God who is our strong deliverer. We don’t have to let our situations dictate our feelings or beliefs. Our feelings of discouragement might come naturally, but we can choose to lean into His goodness despite our feelings. We can choose to hope. We can choose to believe that God will work it out for good. Any time I have chosen to lean into God, despite the hardship, I have found new freedom from the discouraging and heavy thoughts.
We can grow in our faith and trust in God as we turn our fears and discouragement over to Him. As we place our situations and feelings at his feet, He comes through as our strength and our shield in times of trouble. We don’t have to fear bad things. We can be like King David who said, “I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Turn your eyes to Him.
Takeaway Action/Challenge: What is the single-most discouraging or fearful thought you have right now? I challenge you to give it to God in prayer. It may be bringing you down right now, but God can deliver you from it. He can restore your hope and strength and give you peace. You will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Let go of the weight of your situation. Pray about it. Trust God to move in it. Trust that you will see good on the other side of it. Go about your business while you are waiting.
