Articles
Our Eyes Are on You
What do we do when our souls are in despair? Sometimes, we face desperate situations and know we do not have the wisdom to decide which direction to go. Perhaps we have a family member who has a mental illness. Maybe someone in our family has an addiction. What about a child who does not believe or has fallen away? We search desperately for a solution in each situation and see no way forward. We feel we have trusted God, yet everything seems to be going badly. What do we do when we have yet to have the faintest idea of what to do?
Psalm 130 opens, "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! " The Psalmist is in deep distress. When we see no way forward, the only thing left is to fall to our knees and beg God to hear us. Pleading for mercy makes sense because God can put our fevered minds to rest.
King Jehoshaphat faced a dire situation when a great army advanced on Jerusalem. By the time it was reported to him, the army was at Engedi. They were over halfway to the city from Edom. The king "was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." (2 Chr. 20:3) He assembled Judah to "seek help from the Lord." (20:4) Jehoshaphat was a righteous but flawed king. Perhaps he felt safe because he believed he had trusted in the Lord and the Lord would protect him. His situation was perilous. He was caught unaware and unprepared for war. What could he do? In his hour of trial, he remembered the promise of God. He prayed, saying, we built "a sanctuary for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence or famine, we will stand before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.'" (20:8-9) This great trial made Jehoshaphat realize, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." (20:12)
King Jehoshaphat demonstrated to us how to navigate desperate circumstances. He admitted he did not know what to do and kept his eyes on God. The Psalmist concurs, saying, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. " (130:5-6). This is godly wisdom.
James teaches, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously." He teaches us to view our trials as a test of faith that "produces steadfastness" so we may become "perfect and complete lacking nothing." (Jas. 1:2-6). These tests are the discipline of the Lord. "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. " (Heb. 12:11).
An old hymn teaches us that God will provide understanding if we put our faith and trust in him. "Farther along we'll understand why...We'll understand it all by and by." When life overwhelms us, and we do not know what to do, we should keep our eyes on God.
Wait for the Lord.
