The Paradox of faith

Today's reading is from the Psalms: 86, 87, 88, 89

As I read these Psalms this verse stood out to me:
"You are their glorious strength.
It pleases you to make us strong." (Psalm 89:17 NLT)

I looked at that verse and thought about it a lot. You see the Psalm before this one is probably the darkest of all the Psalms. I dare say one would not read Psalm 88 as an encouraging reading. It is full of despair, hopelessness, anger, and questions. Then in turning to Psalm 89, the light comes on, the darkness flees, and hope is returned.

That is "paradox". Contradictory truths. Both are true. Both reflect reality. The problem comes when we can't see both. Our faith is not a matter of God doing what we want, but of our seeking to understand what God wants. It is he who is our "glorious strength". In my weakness - of which there is much - God shows himself to be strong. He can/does make me strong, but I need to appropriate that strength, or forfeit it to despair.

I have lived in despair. It is Psalm 88 all over again. I felt the loneliness, the anger, the sense of distance from God and all hope. It seemed to go on forever, but it didn't. In the midst of Psalm 88 I wondered "why God"? It is our pre-disposition to believe that God is responsible for our problems, our sickness, our financial mess, our disease, our job/career issues...but why do we believe that? What makes us want to hold God responsible for a world that is corrupted by sin, especially since he is the one actively working to bring about redemption?
Let's stop the next time when we are in a Psalm 88 time and realize that in time, Psalm 89 comes to past. The paradox of our faith is real.

Peace
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