“You . . enlarged me when I was in distress.” Psalm 4:1 NIV
“Life is not fair, but God is righteous. Life is not easy, but His grace is sufficient.”
My thoughts today are about “distress.”
“Life is not fair!” I have heard it said to me many times in counseling. No one promised you that life would be. And when life is not fair; when things do not go as you planned or occur as you hoped, life will not be easy either. Everyone would prefer ease and comfort: no problems, no worries, no troubles. But then there would be: no growth, no faith! Distress has an upside; you learn the sufficiency of God’s grace.
Andrae Crouch wrote these lyrics, “If I never had a problem, how would I know that God could solve them; I’d never know what faith in God can do. But through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus; I’ve learned to trust in God. I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.” Learning brings enlargement. That kind of learning is not from what others tell you; enlargement is personal, from your own experience with God.
Sometimes your distress is because of choices you, or someone else, has made that turn matters in directions God would not have chosen for you. Sometimes stuff happens and distress is because of the fallen nature of the world around you. Things that happen are not always as God designed or desires them.
The real question in your heart at those times may be, “Where is God?” What can He do, or will He do? The Psalms speak frequently and honestly of the distresses common to us all. Every time David experienced distress he also discovered God; He was there and His love, grace, power, and purpose were not diminished in the least.
In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as “distress” describes “pressure/narrowness of room.” Today, we call that stress, when something is squeezing you in ways that are very uncomfortable. Distress is what you feel when the pressure seems too much to bear, when life’s situations seem limiting, until you turn to God. Why does it take us so long before we look to the only One who always has sufficient grace and power?
Could there even be times that God does not quickly deliver you from your distressing situation but allows circumstances to grow increasingly uncomfortable and confining until you will look to Him and listen to Him, and embrace and obey His good will? “Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.” Romans 12:1 NLT. The Psalmist cried out to God, “When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, You gave me room; now I’m in trouble again. Grace me! Hear me!” Psalm 4:1 The Message.
Be confident even when in distressing times or circumstances. God can enlarge you in your distress – your vision, your faith, your understanding, your peace. His grace can give you needed relief, giving room to breathe, and believe again. His power can push back the realities that press too tightly upon you, giving room to recover and regroup. David found the door into such enlargement was, “When I call . . “ Often you are waiting for God, when God has been waiting for you to call out to Him! That same door into enlargement is waiting for you and it offers, “Welcome!”
Life is not fair, but God is righteous and just. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25. Life is not easy, but His grace is sufficient. “My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Corinthians 12:8.
My prayer for you today is that you will call out to the Lord in your distress.