Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
—Matthew 5:3   

Reflection

Satan’s fears are a lie, but Jesus came to give life and to give it more abundantly. Yet bad things can still happen, and we may find ourselves wondering why terrible things happen to some believers in spite of what Psalm 91 says.

What do we do when bad things happen to God’s people? Are we tempted to doubt His Word, discount His promises, or wonder whether we can trust Him to protect us?

There are believers whose lives seem to be constantly marked by failure. Everything seems broken. Nothing seems to work out for them. The promises of God seemingly are not being fulfilled, and everything appears to be in shambles. How do we deal with a situation like this?

One cold and icy night, after ministering with a team in a church, a member of the team came running and said that his wife had fallen in the parking lot. She was in the car groaning. The prayer immediately arose: Lord, what is going on here? This lady just finished ministering for You. Couldn’t You have kept her from falling? Where were the angels You promised would bear her up?

Why does it seem like Your people are not experiencing Your protection and blessing? If God was not protecting others, how could He be trusted to protect me?

After waiting on God for several days, the Holy Spirit spoke deep within the heart: The reason you are seeing My people failing and falling is because they are not trusting Me.

This was about more than trust as it had previously been understood. God was revealing that trusting actually means clinging. They are not clinging to Me. They are not holding on to Me.

Beloved, being poor in spirit speaks of dependency on the Lord. When we are not walking in dependency upon Him, but are living according to our own ways, we are going to fail and fall. We also place ourselves in a position where we are vulnerable to the enemy’s attack.

God is often protecting His people even when they are not clinging to Him. Yet in order to see His manifest blessing as recorded in Psalm 91, we must draw near to Him. As we learn to cling to the Lord, we will experience His favor, victory, and blessing more fully.

Sometimes God lets us fall on our faces in order to break us and bring us into a fuller experience in Him. Many who have endured physical challenges testify that the experience made them more dependent upon God, and as a result, their relationship with Him became much closer.

God causes all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. Trust Him by clinging to Him. Hold on to Him, depend upon Him, and draw near.

Application

• Examine whether you are truly clinging to the Lord or attempting to live according to your own strength and ways.
• When hardship comes, let it draw you into greater dependency and a closer relationship with God.

Prayer

Father, teach me that trusting You means clinging to You and holding on to You. Forgive me for the ways I have depended upon myself and lived according to my own understanding. Make me poor in spirit, fully aware of my need for You. Use every difficulty to draw me closer and bring me into a fuller experience of Your presence. Help me trust Your Word and experience Your favor, victory, and blessing as I remain dependent upon You. Amen.