Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24)

Yesterday my sister shared her heavy heart over the two shooting travesties in my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While I won’t speak to the political undercurrent, I am inspired to speak to the distress and grief caused by prevailing evil.

Today’s scripture, Psalms 13:1 (NLT) asks…O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?

Consider…
Sometimes even the most steadfast believers in God reach a breaking point when unchecked evil is rampant everywhere. While they don’t doubt God, they do question His tolerance or lack of response to their plight.

My first word of encouragement is God’s perceived silence speaks volumes. Storms challenge our faith, not His Sovereignty.

I’m reminded of Mark 4:38-40 (NLT) where…Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” [39] When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. [40] Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Notice in His Sovereignty, Jesus silenced the storm, but also revealed the silent faith within His followers.

You see, Christ disciples had walked with Him and seen Him miraculously respond to the needs of the helpless He encountered, yet their current circumstances challenged their confidence in concern for them.

The disciples, like many of us, failed the trust test that the storm administered. The correct answer to the raging storm that the Lord was listening for is in the chorus of one of my favorite songs, ‘Trust In God’ by Elevation Worship…

I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail

I believe God is silent at times so that He can hear our faith speak. 🤔

My second word of encouragement, is God sometimes just provides strength to endure rather than cure our crisis.

Recall a pivotal moment in Jesus’ distressed prayer. Luke 22:42-43 (NLT) captures Jesus praying…“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” [43] Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.

Notice, the Father didn’t say yes, He sent strength.

Or how about when the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness where He was tempted. Mark 1:12-13 (NLT) summarizes…The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, [13] where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.

Notice…

• the Spirit led Him to the test to take care of himself or trust in God.
• God didn’t stop Satan from tempting, He provided angels to take care of Jesus.

I believe the scene of Job 1:8-12 (NLT) is still looping over God’s chosen people…Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” [9] Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. [10] You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! [11] But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” [12] “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

You see, embedded in Satan’s temptations is God’s permission to test, and confidence in our trust in Him.

God’s allowed tests are meant to strike up the chorus of We Are Messengers’ ‘Maybe It’s Ok’…

Maybe it’s ok if I’m not ok
‘Cause the One who holds the world is holding on to me
Maybe it’s alright if I’m not alright
‘Cause the One who holds the stars is holding my whole life

That’s what I envision the rest of David’s Psalms from today expressing. Psalms 13:2-4 (NLT) continues…How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? [3] Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. [4] Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.

Or perhaps more in line with my sister’s heart, the cry of Psalms 94:1-7 (NLT)…O LORD, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! [2] Arise, O Judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. [3] How long, O LORD? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? [4] How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? [5] They crush your people, LORD, hurting those you claim as your own. [6] They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. [7] “The LORD isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”

Both scriptures to us not being okay, yet they don’t end in the distress.

Psalms 94:22-23 (NLT) concludes…But the LORD is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide. [23] God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The LORD our God will destroy them.

And Psalms 13:5-6 (NLT) testifies…But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. [6] I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.

So while I encourage us to always be Honest, Open and Transparent (H.O.T.) with our LORD, I also hope we will remain confident that He sees, hears and knows what’s going on.

The LORD is still saying to us, what He said to Moses in Exodus 3:7 (NLT)…Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.

We serve an Omniscient God who in the words of CeCe Winans song…

He knows, He cares
He sees, He’s there
And He’ll carry you
He’s concerned about you

Never mistake prevailing evil as God’s lack of concern or abandonment. God’s silence is most likely just Him listening for your faith and soul dependency on and confidence in Him.

To all my family and homies, and broken hearted believers everywhere, my prayer is that you ‘Be Encouraged’.

Today’s song is…
Be Encouraged

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)