Mar 18

Mar 18 Reflections on God's Faithfulness: Psalm 85:11-12

Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.

Psalm 85:11-12 NIV

Have you ever felt discouraged? Okay, I know… that’s kind of a “gimme” question….

We all feel discouraged at times. Maybe I should get more specific:

Have you ever felt like you were “trying your hardest” to honor God and obey him, yet watched areas of your life look like they are falling apart and wondered exactly where God was in the midst of your heartache?

I’ve felt that way. Recently... Actually, in the last 24 hours. I felt like I lost the battle of faithfulness.

I was experiencing hardships, and using every tool in my toolbox to get through them. But—spoiler alert—what I needed wasn’t a bigger toolbox. What I needed was bigger faith.

In the last 24 hours, I experienced one of those moments where I lacked any sense of purpose, clarity, direction, or understanding of how God was at work in the midst of all the feelings and circumstances I was experiencing.

I didn’t feel like I was seeing breakthrough; I felt broken down.

Thankfully, I run with a pretty vulnerable prayer crew at my church, and one woman was bold enough to ask for prayer in our group text thread. She had similar feelings of wanting to overcome in the battles she was facing. Relating to what she shared, I reached out to her via text.

By the time I reached out to her, she had already seen God’s light shine in her circumstances, and I’ll never forget the words she shared regarding His faithfulness to show mercy and provide us with the strength we need:

“The sun will rise on our despair.”

He will show up for us. We can hold onto hope. The sun will rise.

I thought this was just about the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

As if that wasn’t enough to uplift my downtrodden spirit, my friend had the wisdom to reframe my entire experience from the night before. Where I felt discouraged—like I had lost the battle of faith because I couldn’t see God working in my circumstances—she described my trial as an opportunity for growth. It was time to trust what I couldn’t see.

Where I felt overcome, she proclaimed an opportunity to persevere in faith.
Where I felt incapable, she proclaimed an opportunity to give control over to God.
Where I felt defeated, she proclaimed an opportunity to receive God’s loving mercy, anew each and every day.

My friend had received fresh perspective from God, and passed it along to me. And boy, was I grateful!

I saw this passage of Scripture burst to life:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 NIV

Pure joy. That was the tone of my friend’s text messages, and it was contagious.

Before my trial transpired, one thing had become clear to me: I was in need of perseverance in a variety of life’s circumstances. What began as a disheartening event—not sensing God’s presence or having clarity in what to do—transformed into a blessed opportunity to grow in my ability to have faith, become more perseverant, and gain maturity.

What a much-needed perspective shift! As a sort of cherry on top of her encouragement, my friend also referred me to Psalms 84-86 which contained all sorts of relevant goodies.

For starters, Psalm 84 refers to how the one whose strength is found in the Lord can walk through metaphorical valleys and have springs appear. Psalm 84:7 then says this:

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

“They go from strength to strength.” Yes, please.

That is the reminder we all need at times. It’s not about seeing the steps ahead and trusting our own ability to get by. (Plus, my own strength definitely wasn’t cutting it for this one…) I needed to trust God’s faithfulness to provide strength after strength to get me through—not only this hardship—but through every day stretching from now into eternity.

Furthermore (and this is where it gets fun and artsy), I had already intended to list some artwork today depicting an overflowing pot of shrub roses—which were symbolic of God’s faithfulness to bring about growth.

While these roses on my front step spoke to my heart about God’s faithfulness each morning this past summer, I didn’t quite have the words to explain what these little blooms meant to me… until I continued on in the Psalms and came to Psalm 85:11-12.

After describing God’s faithfulness to show unfailing love to his servants—and to save those who fear him—Psalm 85 steps into this beautiful, nature-oriented piece of Scripture:

Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Psalm 85:11-12 NIV

God’s faithfulness to give what is good—in its proper time, to his people—is something that we can rely on. He will “indeed” give what is good.

As I tended my shrub roses this past summer, sometimes pruning left them looking bleak. And yet I knew this pruning was a necessary part of the process if I wanted them roses to flourish.

My roses wouldn’t have made their way into maturity and fullness without pruning.

In the same way, moments of trial give us opportunities to fully mature, as we trust God’s faithfulness to bring about all that is good.

And he won’t let us down.

He’s eternally faithful and entirely good. May this image below remind you to remember God’s faithfulness no matter what fiery ordeal you’re walking through, and to rejoice in his goodness in the beautiful seasons to come.