Stand your ground you have a reason to!!!

Psalm 146:1 Stand your ground you have a reason to!!!

We are finite. There are times and seasons when we can see clearly, understand what is needed and move forward. Yet are there also times and seasons where we simply cannot see and all we can say is “Praise the Lord” (V1). Our reality comprises the unseen and the seen (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Suffering, emotions, our frailty, and our death are part of the seen, the felt, it is our humanity. This is our side. Inside and around this reality is the unseen, an opportunity to engage in the incredibly satisfying intimacy of Jesus who stands at our door beckoning and welcoming us to receive His love and eternity. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego contemplated the seen, the fiery furnace but also stood their ground on the unseen. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel, 3:17-18). Sometimes our reality is black, dead, seemingly forsaken and hopeless. It is in this time we have a choice to rise up and hold tight to the unseen and boldly say, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, I will praise the Lord while I live (despite my seen reality). I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. In other words I will not give my mind and energy to the gods of this earth – the hopeless belief that God is everything and we are God therefore I am it, or naturalism and evolutionary humanism or the Godless, empty motivational sound good speeches that exclude any reference to our maker or simply the seeking of financial security and pleasure.
Who do we look at in times of darkness? What do you believe is your reality? We are made to praise God and find our meaning in a reference point outside of ourselves in the infinite God who demonstrated his love for us by entering our seen world in the face of Jesus who gave His life as a sacrifice in our place for our sin. The cross is a historical event just like Martin Luther King. In our world Jesus smashed the power of death (I Timothy 1:10) by His resurrection (John 11.25) and revealed the incredible promise of eternal life through believing in Him and then journeying with Him through death into paradise. What else is there on this planet that gives such an incredible Hope? Praise the Lord.