WHY ARE YOU CRUSHING ME, GOD?

READ PSALM 66

REMEMBER THAT GOD HAS ETERNAL PURPOSES FOR OUR DAILY TRIALS

Psalm 66:8-12

            8 Bless our God, O peoples;

                        let the sound of his praise be heard,

            9 who has kept our soul among the living

                        and has not let our feet slip.

            10 For you, O God, have tested us;

                        you have tried us as silver is tried.

            11 You brought us into the net;

                        you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

            12 you let men ride over our heads;

                        we went through fire and through water;

            yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

What are you doing God? Why are you allowing evil things to happen in my life? Why is life so hard? Why do people behave the way they do? Why do others seem to have an easier life than mine? These are only some of the questions that come to our minds at times.

Remember the words of the Israelites?

Exodus 14:11

They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

           

Exodus 17:3

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

The psalmist is calling the children of Israel to recognize the providence of God in their lives. They had proven, many times, that when they faced adversities, they lost sight of God and failed to trust His purpose. Dear friends, we are prone to do the same.

God is the One who gives and sustains life. We cannot prolong a day of our existence if God does not will it. We know that He has kept us from falling many times, and there are many more times that we do not even know about. His hand is there to sustain us before we fall, and to pick us up when we do.

Yes, our life is filled with exams! Every test we face exposes what is in our hearts. Our reactions expose what our expectations are. Our complaints expose what our goals really are.

We know we should live our lives with an ongoing desire to grow in sanctification, to help others in their Christian walk and to invite the unsaved to Christ. So we should ask ourselves if the uncomfortable trial we find ourselves in is a deterrent to our selfish goals or if it is conducive to the eternal purposes of God. I already know the answer and so do you! God is best served when we react in a godly way to the difficulties of life or repent quickly when we fail.

Yes, it is possible that God is allowing us to have to carry some very heaving burdens, that He will allow some people to bring us great pain, but His purposes are for our spiritual good.

God is leading us to a place of abundance. No not material abundance, but spiritual blessing. We sorrow today for the loss of loved ones. We feel the pain of physical ailments. We live under the pressure of broken relationships. We work under the leadership of difficult authorities. We struggle through financial difficulties. We strain, as we are confronted with daily obstacles. But none of these events are deterrents to the life of abundance God has planned for us. Rather, they are carefully-chosen instruments to guide our hearts and lives to the exact place God desires for us.

Psalm 66:13-15

            13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

                        I will perform my vows to you,

            14 that which my lips uttered

                        and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

            15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,

                        with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

                 I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

Through all of this, our worship must continue faithfully, our promises to God must be maintained. Disregarding the fact that God has our spiritual good woven into His purposes will easily lead us to sin. The writer reminds the readers to keep the promises they made during the trials.

I have found that some, during trials, come closer to God, but as soon as things improve, they go back to their ordinary ways. May we learn both to come to God during the difficulties and to remain faithful during the easier times of our lives.

The psalmist began inviting us to make our praise be heard by those around us. May our praise indeed be sincere and constant, no matter what is happening in our lives!