Welcome to Berean Calvary Chapel

The psalmist doesn’t pretend everything is fine.

He is hurting. He feels separated from the people of God. His enemies are mocking him. And their question cuts deeply:

“Where is your God?”

Sometimes the circumstances around us seem to ask the same question.

Where is God when the situation doesn’t change?

Where is God when our prayers seem unanswered?

Where is God when someone we love is hurting?

Where is God when we feel alone?

The psalmist’s response is not to deny what he feels. Instead, he begins talking to his own soul.

“Why are you cast down?”

He recognizes that his emotions are real, but they don’t get the final word.

This is an important distinction. Faith doesn’t require us to pretend that pain doesn’t hurt. Faith means we refuse to allow what we feel to redefine what we know about God.

There will be moments when your heart says one thing and God’s Word says another.

Your heart may say, God has forgotten me.

His Word says He will never leave you.

Your heart may say, There is no way through this.

Faith says, God is still my God.

Your heart may say, I don’t understand.

Faith says, I don’t have to understand everything to trust Him.

As Pastor Chuck often expressed it: Don’t trade the things you know for the things you don’t know.

We don’t always know what God is doing.

We don’t always know what tomorrow holds.

But we can know who God is.

And sometimes that is where faith begins.

Reflect

• What circumstances are currently speaking fear or doubt into my heart?
• Am I allowing my feelings to tell me things about God that aren’t true?
• What do I know about God’s character that remains true regardless of my circumstances?

Prayer

Father, when my soul is cast down, help me remember who You are. I don’t want to deny my struggles, but I also don’t want my struggles to become my theology. When I don’t understand what You are doing, help me trust what I know about You. You are faithful, You are good, and You are with me. Amen.