God Is on Our Side

            “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul.” (Ps 124:1-5)

One of the amazing things about the Bible is how it continually gives us ideas to meditate upon and truths to apply in our lives. This passage in Psalms is one that we can all relate to. I’m sure that there are many situations where things would have turned out differently for us if God had not been on our side.

We turn to God in difficult times because He comforts us and can resolve our problems for us. However, our sorrow and pleas for help are sometimes mixed with feelings of injustice or mistreatment. It’s hard to go through trials when it seems like we’ve been obeying God and generally doing a good job in our faith. It seems unfair to suffer when we are doing good. What we often forget during such times, though, is that God is on our side.

When we undergo trials we may forget that He wants us to succeed, to overcome our troubles, that He is giving us His support and encouragement. As Psalm 124 illustrates, without God on our side, we would have been overwhelmed and defeated.

Yes, maybe the problems and sorrows we are facing are trials from God. But God isn’t a troublemaker, and neither is He only a problem solver or a shoulder for us to cry on. As He refines our faith through trials, He is there at every moment, cheering us on, protecting us from irreparable harm.

In the midst of tough times, while we are struggling with the weight of our burdens, let us never forget to rely on God, to trust God, to remember that God is on our side.

            Questions for Reflection:

            Have you not felt God by your side recently? What steps can you take to draw near to God again?