Victorious and Preserved to this Day

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Have you heard about the optimist who fell off a 10-story building? Passing the 5th floor he said, “So far so good!”

I’m a pretty optimistic guy. I don’t think I’m overly optimistic, maybe a pragmatic optimist, but, for the most part, I tend to look on the brighter side of life. Some Christ followers, though, are prone to the dark side of everything. You hear it when they talk more about what they have gone through than what God has done for them. You’ve heard them, haven't you? Continual conflicts. Deep afflictions. Unfortunate adversities. You hardly ever hear them reference the mercy and help that God provides for them.

A Christ follower whose soul is healthy, will joyously say, "I will not speak about myself, but to the honor of my God. He took me out of a pit filled with miry clay and planted my feet solidly on a rock. He put a new song in my mouth, which can’t stop singing His praise. The Lord has done great things for me—I am glad” [adapted from Psalm 40.2-3; 126.3].

That’s the best review of experiences that any child of God can offer. Sure, we endure trials and difficulties. But, it’s also true that the Lord delivers us from them all [Psalm 34.19]. Sure, we have sin. But we also have an all-sufficient Savior who delivers us from its dominion [1 John 1.9].

Like Pilgrim (in Pilgrim’s Progress), we can’t deny that we have been through the Slough of Despond and the Valley of Humiliation, but how equally egregious to forget that we have come through them safely and profitably. We don’t remain there, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has, "brought us out to a place of abundance” [Psalm 66.12].

Hear the psalmist cry out, “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!” [Psalm 66.1-3a]. The deeper our problems, the louder our praise to God. He has brought us to victory and preserved us to this day.

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126.3