Finding a Foothold for LIFE!

I have never been a rock climber, and I have no intention of becoming one!  While it appears some people like the thrill of hanging perilously in thin air, knowing that at any moment you may plummet to your death, it seems to me that in doing so you are not really "tempting fate," but rather, "testing God."  Perhaps that is true in many thrill-seeking pursuits in which people engage, however, life itself often feels a bit like rock-climbing, or perhaps more accurately, mountain-climbing!!  If you have lived for very long, you probably know what I mean.  Jesus may have even had this in mind when He told the disciples in Matthew 17, verse 20, that with faith the size of a mustard seed they could command the mountain to be cast into the sea and it would be done.  Surely, Jesus was talking about the "mountains" that you and I must climb throughout our lives ... mountains of fear, doubt, uncertainty, sickness, trials, suffering, sadness and more.  

At times like this you will often feel as though you are climbing a mountain and you can't find a foothold to move forward.  You are either stuck in the place you are, afraid of moving, or even worse, afraid of falling.  Who of us has not been there??  Young people often seem to think they are the first ones to face such formidable struggles, imagining that no one else could possibly understand what they are going through ... but the reality is that very few, if any, of us are immune from such feelings, from the inner turmoil caused by LIFE in this world.  In times like that you and I must KNOW where we can find a foothold that is firm and sure, and there is no better place to go than to God's Word.  One of my favorite places has always been Psalm 73.

The writer of the Psalm, a man named, Asaph, begins with what appears to be a solid statement of belief in God.  He says, "Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!".  He knew God.  He had experienced God's faithfulness, yet now he was apparently facing a mountain of confusion.  Perhaps he himself was going through a difficult time, or perhaps he was just making a general observation of the state of the world around him, but either way, he was struggling within himself to understand LIFE, and GOD's part in it!  Asaph knew and believed that God is sovereign over all things.  He can do what He desires and nothing is too hard for Him.  Here, then, was Asaph's problem:  "As for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.  For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm 73:2-3).

Asaph was a believer, and he knew God's promises to those who trust in Him.  He promises to be with us, to give us what we need, and to help us in times of trouble.  Yet there are times when it LOOKS like those who don't know God, who boast about their own wisdom and power and wealth, SEEM to have an easier life than those who are believing and trusting in God.  Asaph goes on to describe what he sees in verses 4-12:  "They have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.  Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.  Therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault in them.  And they say, 'How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'  Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches."

Obviously, these are general observations, but the conclusion remains:  it LOOKS like those who don't know the one true God, the God of Israel, have it "easier" in this life than those who DO know God.  How can that be???  Asaph's conclusion, at least in his heart and mind, is found in verses 13-14:  "All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.  For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning."  What Asaph is expressing is a growing mountain of frustration!  He is filled with questions, and he is not alone!!  How many have cried out to God for answers to this dilemma as their "feet almost stumbled" and their "steps had nearly slipped"?  Some have said that it is all right to "question" God ... everyone does it!  But through the years I have warned people of the danger of questioning God, of attempting to put HIM on trial for the things that people do in this world.  It is true that God could prevent every trial you will ever face.  He could make sure no suffering or pain comes your way.  And He could make the lives of unbelievers so utterly miserable that they would wish they were dead.  But this is where you need to begin to find your foothold:  THIS life is not all there is!  God has a purpose in all things and everything you see now will lead inevitably to judgment for the unbeliever and to glorious joy for the believer!!

Thankfully, God was at work in Asaph by His Spirit and brought him to a better place in his mind and his heart.  Quickly, his thoughts changed, as he began to set his mind on his God!  Listen, as he begins with confession in verses 15-22:  "If I had said, 'I will speak thus,' I would have betrayed the generation of your children. (In other words, if he had verbalized what was on his mind and spread his thoughts and feelings to others, as so many do, he would have led others into the same place of discouragement, confusion and despair!) ... he goes on, "But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed a wearisome task UNTIL I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end (the wicked).  Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.  How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!  Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.  When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you."

There are times, perhaps many times throughout your life and mine, when we must confess our sins of doubt.  Questioning God is foolishness.  Those who say otherwise find no justification in Scripture.  As the old hymn says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."  Doubt-filled questions do no one any ounce of good.  Offering such comfort to people who are depressed, overwhelmed by life, and discouraged by their circumstances will do them no good.  Instead, they need the work of the Spirit confronting them with the reality of God's ways and of His justice.  He will make things right in the end.  Someone has said, "God's promise to His children is that all will be well in the end; so if all is not well ... it is not the end!!"

God does not leave us in our doubt and confusion.  Instead, by His Word and Spirit, He brings us back to the truth, and it is the truth that becomes our foothold as we climb the mountains that are set before us.  Asaph reaches the summit in his thoughts and his emotions in verses 23-28:  "Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.  BUT, for ME, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works!"

Confession leads to the testimony that God calls each of His children to give to the world.  God doesn't give us all the answers we may want in this life, as we live in this world.  But the reason is, we couldn't deal with it if He did.  His wisdom is so far beyond ours that it is impossible for us to comprehend all of the connections between the events going on in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  GOD, on the other hand, knows each one.  He knows and understands what YOU are going through at this very moment, and He knows the temptation to go where Asaph briefly went.  He knows what it LOOKS like, but He also knows what HE is doing to overcome evil and to bring good out of suffering and trials for His children.  Like Asaph, if you have placed your faith in the one true God, believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you have the Spirit of God within you and He will never leave you.  Your Savior intercedes for you at your Father's right hand.  TRUST HIM!  Believe His promises, and it will be well with your soul.

Verses 25-26 have become part of my testimony, and I encourage you today to make them part of yours by memorizing them and taking these words to heart, living by the faith they express:  "Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!"   Draw near to God in prayer and discover His peace.  Find your joy in His presence and make Him your refuge.  Tell others what He has done in Jesus Christ, and what He has promised to do when He returns.  Then, truly, it will be well with your soul!!