Wait…What?!?!

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him (Psalm 91:14-15).

Prepositions…one tiny little word…One tiny preposition can make an universe of difference.

Sometimes I feel like God just doesn’t get me.

Let me explain. Look at the verse of the day. God says, because I love him God will rescue me and protect me. I’m all about that. I like that. I like that a lot. And then he explains what that rescue and protection looks like. At this point, I am totally thinking, since God’s got my back, I’m good. I’m all good.

And then, God says, “He will call on me, and I will answer him.”

So far so good.

“I will be with him in trouble.”

WHAT?!?! Run that by me again…

Shouldn’t that say, “I will rescue him out of trouble”?

That’s what I want. That’s what I expect. But that’s not what we get. God doesn’t promise that. God promises to be with us in trouble. God promises not to leave us alone in difficulties.

See that? God doesn’t get me. I don’t want trouble. I want ease. I want no trouble.

But that’s not what we get. Because sometimes our growth and maturity depends on us going through troubled times. Our faith grows and matures when we experience that God’s presence is all we need to make it through the trials and difficulties of life. We don’t learn that lesson in ease. We don’t learn that lesson in peace. We need trouble for that lesson.

So God leaves us in trouble. But he does not leave us alone, left to our own devise and strength. God promises to be with us, to be our strength and hope.

God stays with us in troubled and hard times because God is more interested in our growth and maturity than he is in our desire for an easy life.

So, I get that God doesn’t get me. But I am okay with that. I trust God and his wisdom more than I trust myself. I don’t always need to understand in order to trust that God is good, God is kind, and God loves me.

Trust doesn’t require understanding. Trust just requires knowing that God is good. So, trust God.