[Psalms] EverythingSample

What about the Pain?

God’s intimate knowledge of us invites us, but it also repels us—It moves us back. If God knows everything, then I am safe and satisfied. But, if God knows everything, how do I reconcile the pain and the tragedy in my life? What do I do with that? And when I don’t know what to do with that, can I lean further in, or will the pain and tragedy push me further out?

In John 11, Lazarus dies. The Bible says two days passed before Jesus went to Lazarus, whom He loved. He waited two days. Why did He delay like that? He delayed so that He could show the glory of God in an even greater way. Mary and Martha and you and I do not like God’s delays.

I do not like the moments when I feel like I must say, “God, You should be doing this.” I am not sure how to adapt that into His sovereignty. There is a part of the sovereignty of God that actually repels me when I say, “Why does this happen?” And then there is the part of God’s sovereignty that motivates me to say, “God, You know that it’s happening, and I’ve got no other place to flee.”

We are going to find that tension with David in the next section of verses. David is contemplating fleeing. You might not have seen this before in the Scriptures, though you might have considered fleeing yourself. 

David is thinking, “I don’t know if I want to stay here. What would happen if I flee? Well, if I go to Mars, He’s there. If I got to the bottom of the ocean, He’s there. Golly... Wherever I go, He’s there!”

This knowledge is actually going to comfort us eventually. God is always present and always powerful. It does not matter where you are, where you’re going, or where you’ve been. God is always present and always powerful. David ponders fleeing, but he realizes that it is impossible. God’s omnipresent. He is omnipotent—all-powerful. David says, “I can’t go anywhere. God is already there.”

So wherever you are hurting, quiet your heart and find Him there. He is God. His name will be glorified in your situation.

Lord, even in the midst of my pain, walk me through it. Amen.