When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God. Psalm 73:17 (NIV)
You see what Asaph is saying: “Here I am struggling with my problems. But my questions and struggles are part of something much bigger.”
It’s a great thing to have personal faith, but behind your faith there is the faith. Behind your little struggle to believe, there stands a great company of men and women through the ages who have faced the same questions and the same struggles, and God has brought them through. That’s what Asaph saw when he went into the sanctuary.
This is one of the great blessings of the body of Christ. The church of Jesus Christ has been going for 2,000 years. There is nothing in your life that God’s people have not faced before.
There are no questions in your mind that have not been asked before. People have lived and died on God’s promises for 2,000 years! “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful” (1 Cor. 10:13).
You see a single mother, struggling to bring up her children in the faith, and you’re encouraged. You see a child who is seriously ill and her parents trusting the Lord. You’re encouraged. You see someone who has experienced great loss, and he or she is singing praises to God through tears, and you’re strengthened.
You never know what ministry you may have to others simply by the fact that you have endured so much and you didn’t give up. Don’t underestimate the importance of staying the course. You are showing the rest of us what it means to persevere.
Is there a member of the church who has encouraged you in recent days? What if you chose to go to church, in the middle of your struggles, for the benefit of others?
