Christian Foundations
DEVOTIONAL ARCHIVE
by Dr. Charles Stanley
January 5-6, 2008 – God Is My Keeper – Psalm 121:7-8
God is sovereign, and God is good. Knowing this, many believers struggle to understand why painful things happen in life. They wonder, Why wouldn’t the Lord stop me from experiencing such heartache?
The question deepens when we read a Bible passage like Psalm 121:7-8: “The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” Many people interpret this to mean that God will keep them from difficulty. But what the words say is that He promises to keep their soul.
The Lord allows pain. Sometimes He even orchestrates it. God understands the hurt, but He also looks into the deeper meaning of the situation. Trials often strengthen our faith, make us more like Jesus, and give us compassion for others. At times, God may even use difficulties to keep us from living mundane lives or wasting opportunities. With His help, we profit immensely more from walking through the pain than from avoiding it. When our heavenly Father knows it is best, He doesn’t keep us from the pain; instead, He enables us to endure the hardship by giving us wisdom and strength. And when we get to the other side, we can often see—with great gratitude—how His gentle and gracious hand guided us through the whole situation.
We have tremendous hope, knowing that God will keep us through the most difficult times. Read Psalm 124, and ask the Lord to remind you of its truths when painful situations arise in your life.
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