Even in the Lows

Life has a way of catching us off guard and bringing forth challenges that seem to take our breath away. We find ourselves in low places based upon our current situation.  As I discussed in my previous blog the marriage vows between husband and wife can be applied to our covenant with Christ. This week let’s look at richer or poorer.

Matthew 5:3 says. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

The word poor in Matthew 5 in the Hebrew means distressed or a beggar. The word contrite in Psalm 34 means feeling or expressing remorse or penitence or affected by guilt.

It’s hard to admit that we have hit a low place in our lives, because just like when things get worse, it gets uncomfortable. We don’t want to appear as failures or a person who doesn’t have it all together. We don’t want to look like beggars or like someone who needs help, especially within a marriage.

We want our spouse to believe that we can do all things, but the reality is we can’t. Not having the answers immediately has the potential to send us into a downward spiral. We tend to shut out the world and those closest to us until we feel like we have a solution.

When that happens, it will show us where we are truly drawing our strength and help from. We go inward with self-condemnation and guilt tends to come to the forefront. We rely on our own ability to make things happen and when it does not, we run for the hills, not for help but to focus on the hurt.

Christ doesn’t leave the covenant because we get uncomfortable, he provides us with comfort and is very close to us. We quickly forget that we are in a covenant with Him. He is not dating us or seeing if we are the one he wants to be with.

He has already chosen us as his bride, and the low moments we experience don't cause Him to abandon the covenant until we get it together. He is a faithful God, and we must learn to come to him during these times if we want to see the kingdom of God. We must humble ourselves and seek His face.

He is not afraid of what you are going through.

He is right there with us to help us through it.  Even though we are flawed, He sticks with us. He died for those flaws so we could live in Him who is flawless. We should not feel like a burden because we fall short or because we don’t feel like we are handling things like we should.

Here is a little secret: even when we think we are doing a good job at handling our circumstances, it is Christ that is working in us to do it.

Low moments will have us putting the blame and responsibility upon our shoulders. There is something you should know: it is never on you to make it right, but to remain in the righteousness of God within the covenant.

God gave us this covenant for us to enter. We are not responsible for keeping it going. He is.

Instead of making excuses, we must make the effort to remain close and connected because He can. There is nothing too hard for God. He can pull us out of our situation when we rely on him and not our own strength.

The enemy points out what is wrong and how insufficient we are, but Jesus reminds us that his grace is sufficient. He is enough and He is invested and will remain faithful in the covenant. He is a covenant keeping God and He will never leave us nor forsake us. We must strive to stay connected. We must do the necessary work to remain present with him no matter what it looks like.