A Deeper Reality

My devotional continues to talk about the Resurrection of Jesus, it's amazing to me how much pain Jesus endured for us. I recommend listening to Tenth Avenue North's song Times...while reading this.  It really captures how God's love is present even when we don't see it, he is still good. Here's what it had to say...

The poet in Psalm 22:1 cried out "My God, my god, why have you abandoned me?"-one of the most honest prayers in the world. The psalmist wasn't trying to gloss over his miserable circumstances by saying, "its not that bad" or "it must be God's will"; he was desperately begging for answers. When I'm in pain, I can hardly string three words together, let alone articulate a coherent prayer to God! But I can relate to what the psalmist was feeling. Lurking behind the blankness and terror of pain or fear is the horrible sense that God is far, far away. Jesus knew that psalm by heart and he quoted it while he was dying on the cross. Somehow through the haze of pain he summoned ancient words to express his spiritual agony. The interesting thing is what Jesus didn't say: he didn't say "Make it go away" like many of us would. Instead, he quoted a beloved scripture that he had studied and memorized long before this time of trail had come along. It's an important lesson for the rest of us. Whenever we get irritated by our pastors or mentors insistence that we take the time to memorize verses of scripture , we need to remember that they aren't  saying this to make us feel bad. They're not simply being annoying. They're actually trying to help us get in touch with the deeper reality that God's word is a lifeline when all other words fail. It we become familiar with the words of scripture during the good times, then when times are bad- when pain or fear feels like the only reality- we can dredge up those words out of the depths of our souls and cling to them. This goes for both the hopeful promises (such as Joshua 1:5 "I will  not fail you or abandon you") and the honest questions like in this psalm. And perhaps Jesus left the rest of the psalm  unsaid because he expects us to know God's word by heart too- Sarah Arthur.

This got me thinking about how important it is for us to memorize scripture, It's so cool that we can cling to God's word in the times when we are suffering and the good times. Joshua 1:9 is one of my favorite verses to cling to when i feel down. Last night i was reading Psalm 21 which says....
The king rejoices in your strength, LORD.
   How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him his heart’s desire    and have not withheld the request of his lips.You came to greet him with rich blessings
   and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.  He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
   length of days, for ever and ever. Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
 you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Surely you have granted him unending blessings
 and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
 For the king trusts in the LORD; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;  your right hand will seize your foes.
When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.
You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed. You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might.
So good! So go, grab your bible and soak up his word!