Vol. 16 No. 43 | October 28, 2013
If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters
would have swept us away.
Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
What if the Lord had not been on our side?
What if the Lord had not been on our side when we were attacked by forces committed to tearing us down, destroying our reputation, and robbing us of the peace? How would we have handled it? How would we have kept our sanity? How would we have been able to not seek revenge or retaliation? The forces against us would have swallowed us alive, the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, and the raging waters would have swept us away. The Lord was on our side.
What if the Lord had not been on our side when our marriage was consumed by stress and confusion? What if the Lord had not been on our side when the stress and confusion turned into anger, rage, and resentment? What if the Lord had not been on our side when everything we thought was true and stable crumbled around us? We would have been swallowed alive, the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, and the raging waters would have swept us away. The Lord was on our side.
What if the Lord had not been on our side when our children were hurting, battling temptations, and struggling to hold on to their faith? What if the Lord had not been on our side when our children walked away from their faith in pursuit of the good life? What if the Lord had not been on our side when our children denounced their heritage and became strangers to us? The Lord was on our side.
What if the Lord had not been on our side when we listened to our parents argue night after night as we pretended to be asleep? What if the Lord had not been on our side when our parents sat us down and informed us that they no longer loved one another and were getting a divorce? What if the Lord had not been on our side when our parents told us we had to choose which one of them we wanted to live with? We would have been swallowed alive, the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, and the raging waters would have swept us away. The Lord was on our side.
What if the Lord is not on our side when we learn that our husband has been in a freak accident and will not survive? What if the Lord is not on our side when we learn that our wife’s cancer that was treated and declared gone appears again, and this time is more aggressive? What if the Lord is not on our side when our best friends reveal that their marriage has been in trouble for a long time and now they are giving up and are going to divorce? What if the job we thought was a sure thing does not materialize? If these things (or even worse) do happen, and they may, and the Lord is not on our side we could be swallowed alive, the flood could engulf us, the torrent could sweep over us, and the raging waters could sweep us away. But, the Lord is on our side.
Praise be to the Lord. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Tom
© Copyright 2013 Tom Norvell. All rights reserved.