Thursday Thoughts

I think one of the most dangerous tactics Satan has in his toolbelt is his ability to make us feel
alone in our pain and struggle. All of us have shared in this experience. We feel shame for a sin
we continue to fall prey to, and we keep it to ourselves. We have a familial shakeup, a divorce,
or a death maybe, but we don’t want to burden others with the weight we carry. There are so
many ways the Adversary wants us to see ourselves as alone. One way in particular is hit on in
Psalm 13. It reads:
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the LORD’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.
At some point or another, most people end up asking themselves some variation of this
question. “Are you even real God?” “How could you let this happen if you’re actually real?”
“Why should I believe in a God I can’t see?” “Where are you God?” The list goes on and on and
each variation is just as heartbreaking as the next. Just like the examples listed earlier, we often
wrestle these thoughts alone, right where Satan wants us. We need to work on better ways to
cope with doubt when it arises. One way we can do this is to bring our community into the places
of doubt we find ourselves in. We are weak when we are under the guise of being the only one.
Lean on others. Be someone others can lean on. Live as the community we have been called to
be. I try my best to consult people older, or wiser, or more knowledgeable than myself all the
time. Doubt should be no different.
The other key is to do exactly what David does in this passage so well; remember to recenter
our doubts and bring them to the feet of our Lord. David is clearly at a low when writing this
Psalm and can resonate with us when we find ourselves in this same hole. Christ is glorified in
our weaknesses. When doubt arises, we need to recognize this human weakness and lean on
Christ and community. Praise God for other believers and for finding ways to use people as
broken as I am.