“The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil, he enters into peace.”
—Isaiah 57:1-2   

Reflection

Being poor in spirit speaks of dependency on the Lord. When we’re not walking in dependency upon the Lord, but are living according to our own ways, we are going to fail and fall. We will also be putting ourselves in a position where we are vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Please understand that God is often protecting His people, even when they are not clinging to Him.

However, in order to see His manifest blessing, 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 to bring us into a fuller experience in Him. Many people who have gone through physical challenges have testified that going through their challenge made them more dependent on God. As a result, their relationship with Him is much closer now.

As Romans 8:28 teaches us, God does indeed cause all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. 

But the devil will sometimes distract God’s people from a general truth with what appears to be an exception. He does this to keep us from receiving the revelation of God’s love. Satan does not want us to receive and believe the simple truth of God’s Word. He loves to sidetrack us with examples that seem to contradict the Word of God.

We can see a person who names the name of Jesus fall into tremendous hardships, and we’re tempted to wonder whether we can trust God. We think to ourselves, God didn’t seem to bless and protect them, so I wonder if I can trust Him. When a believer is tragically killed or dies suddenly, Satan will often try to arouse doubt in believers’ minds: Can God really be trusted?

Isaiah tells us that sometimes the righteous are taken away from evil and enter into peace. Some things fall into the realm of mystery, and we simply don’t have answers to everything. When we’re confronted with troubling scenarios that we don’t understand, we need to declare with the Psalmist, “O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me” (Psalm 131:1).

The Psalmist wasn’t going to concern himself with trying to figure everything out. Instead, he humbly trusted God and His goodness.

Satan tries to keep us trapped by attempting to have us measure God’s faithfulness by looking at other people and their situations. But we have to trust God and cling to Him for ourselves, instead of trying to trust Him based on the experiences of others. I should not determine if I can trust God based on whether I think He was faithful to somebody else. I need to trust Him for myself. My confidence in God must be based upon His Word alone.

Application

• Cling to the Lord in dependency today, trusting His Word rather than living according to your own ways.
• Refuse to measure God’s faithfulness by circumstances you do not understand. Trust God and His goodness for yourself.

Prayer

Father, teach me to walk in true dependency upon You and to cling to You with my whole heart. When I face situations I cannot understand, keep me from trying to figure out things that are too difficult for me. Help me to humbly trust You and Your goodness. Do not let the enemy sidetrack me with circumstances that seem to contradict Your Word. I choose to trust You for myself, and I ask that my confidence in You would be based upon Your Word alone. Amen.