Disorientation with God?

Read Psalm 73

Life situations take us through varied experiences - moderate to extreme. They even influence our beliefs, values, judgments and outlook on life. In our spiritual walk with Jesus, when it comes to trying times in life, a realtime crisis, there's no telling how that situation is going to influence our decisions and mold our future. The devil is always trying to create a gap, a disorientation between us and our Savior Jesus Christ. Psalm 73 beautifully illustrates how can we overcome such disorientation and keep our walk as close as ever with God.

In Psalm 73, Asaph expresses his 'state of mind' and how to one such phase of crisis in his life, which mirrors the very mental process we go through when we go through testing times.

Verse 1-2: The Psalmist fully aware, acknowledges the Kingship and sovereignty of Lord God. He also recounts the miracles God has performed for the deliverance of Israel and to him personally. But, he mentions a personal crisis, where he has slipped / backslided in his walk of faith.

Verse 3-12: Just like we turn around and get disheartened looking at how the godless people prosper / or not facing any crisis inspite of all their blasphemies and arrogance; here, Asaph goes on to compare his crisis situation against the others who do not hearken unto God's word.

Verse 13-14: Asaph is pronouncing conclusions from what he's observed around him. This is a perfect example of how we allow our circumstances to squeeze us into its mold, and starts to influence our attitudes, behavior and decisions eventually. Such situations even make us question God's faithfulness to us.

Verse 14-22: A lovely example is set here about what we need to do when faced with time of crisis. When the circumstances and people around us try to victimize us, we need to turn to our Lord, enter His sanctuary, count our blessings, take our decisions in the light of His word. When we compare our disappointment and the questioning 'state of mind' in the light of God's word and counsel, Asaph says, we are like 'brute beast'.

Verse 23-27: A song of praise gushes forth from all the bitter experiences. Perhaps, as Asaph sings out, his circumstances haven't improved. What exactly has brought the change was the reorientation with God, through His word, and by entering His sanctuary.

Verse 28: The final word - "it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds"

There's not a better antidote to any trying time for a believer. Though we slip time and again from our faith by comparing our situation with that of others and get disoriented from God, it's only through His word, that we can ever stay close to our God. There's no better refuge that we can turn to.

By Manohar Lazarus