Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.” vs. 15
Psalm 90:15-17
The psalmist believed that all the blessings and afflictions of his life came by the hand of God–nothing was accidental. There’s something to admire about that sense of connectedness to the Divine, and the psalmist is right about God being actively present in all areas of our lives. We only get into trouble when we begin thinking of God as the somewhat disconnected arbitrary agent of good and evil. But it is true that when we believe that we’ve had an especially long run of bad days, we’re likely to ask God to even things out a bit. We reason that we’d be able to handle the tough times better if we knew for sure that they’d be followed by a series of blessings. Of course that’s not how life works. Our days are actually a mixture of good and bad and God is never absent. And what is even more spectacular, it’s during the hardest times, the periods of suffering, that God comes closest and offers blessings of peace and comfort. After a time, when we have become more experienced with living, we will be able to wring gladness out of every day. When God is hanging around there will always be signs of beauty and grace–even in the toughest times. It’s simply a matter of having eyes to see!
Thought for the Day: How well do I handle bad days?
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