by Pastor Douglas Brauner

For the Good

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”
Psalm 119:50 English Standard Version

As I read this verse for my morning devotion, it seemed strange to me that the priest who wrote this psalm would trust in words over actions, especially words of promise.

When we experience misery, the last thing we want to trust are words. We want something to be done about our misery. We want to be free our from pain.

What good is a promise when I’m battling cancer?

What good is a promise when I’m chronically depressed?

What good is a promise when my marriage is falling apart?

The psalmist doesn’t write these words in a vacuum. They are words that come out of his experience. There is an undercurrent of the writers struggles in Psalm 119. The psalmist did battle with people who made fun of him, ridiculing him for the life he lived, a life rooted in the word of God. As I reflect on my forty years of pastoring, I can relate.

Pastoring is like herding cats. People are passionate about their faith and how the church ought to operate. This passion is good, however, this enthusiasm can lead to battles, battles that often leave people wounded along the way.

God’s word of promise is better than our feeble attempts to make things right. That’s because God’s word of promise is rooted in his action not ours, the action taken by Jesus on his cross. It is a promise that “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Notice that the promise is not that everything will turn out the way we want it to, but that things will turn out for good.

Faith in Jesus holds on to the promise that all our battles will turn out for good, even if we never realize what that good is. Good is always in the hands of God.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado