City Life Starter

The Word: Psalm 73 22-28

 22 I was brutish and ignorant;

I was like a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

    you hold my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

    and afterward you will receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28 But for me it is good to be near God;

    I have made the Lord God my refuge,

    that I may tell of all your works.

By Blesson Selvanesan.

We play boxing matches with ourselves on daily basis. Truth and feelings fight within us. This is very human and all of us go through this and the winner is decided by the way in which our minds decides to sway. This is not a random process but a choice that we consciously take weighing the reality in the light of knowledge. Culture encourages us to be ‘authentic’ but letting our feelings to be our masters but ‘religion’ tells us to suppress our emotions to be ‘pious’ before people and God. Neither extremes are healthy. The balanced way to respond is to take our emotions to God and surrender to truth. Feelings are fickle and can flip at any moment, but the truth is eternal, stands rock solid and waits for us to open our eyes with a new perspective.  This is the ‘Aha’ ‘makes sense’ ‘got it’ moment that Asaph achieves after swinging back and forth in Psalm 73.

Upon seeing worldly people of their health and wealth, fortune and fame, Asaph was bitter with himself. For a moment, he entertained the thought that there is no justice and no hope for people who are righteous. What’s the point he asked? He was asking the age-old question which we all ask, why do good things happen to bad people and why do bad things happen to good people? Is God somewhere far away over there? When Asaph went to spend time with God, he realized that he was not only totally blind and ignorant but also was arrogant in his ignorance. His eyes were opened when the truth was illuminated by the Father of truth and light at the temple of God. His feelings flipped again, this time to Hope, Praise, Adoration, Respect, Jubilation, and Celebration. As the façade was pierced, he saw the truth in the presence of God. Asaph saw the truth of eternal perspective and anchored himself to God and worshipped Him.

Application: It is easy to be distracted and believe in our emotions. As a college student, I used to travel by train to go to my college. At the station where I usually got down, I am used to seeing several people begging for food and money. I was kind to many of them but many of my friends were not. After a couple of years, one day I was walking out of the railway station as usual with a senior friend of mine who was doing masters in social work. I asked him sarcastically ‘what’s the point in you doing social work without helping these people begging in this station right in front of our college?’ He gave me a stare and told me ‘You don’t know anything’ and proceeded to explain. Apparently, Social workers tried to help these people several times and they will not go away. Later they found out they are drug dealers posing as beggars in from of our college campus. After hearing the truth my kindness flipped into anger, frustration, and betrayal. The point is, emotions can be misleading in the absence of truth. If we trust in our emotions, we will be blind sighted.  Truth brings illumination into our situation and gives us a new perspective whereas ignorance tends to blind us. Therefore, it is essential to know the truth and depend on the truth. When there is a boxing match within us, let’s take it to our Lord as He is the Truth and is the revealer of all truths. He will show us the way.

Prayer: Lord, in times of desperation help me not to cling to my emotions but help me to come to your Light and Truth. Reveal to me the truth and give me a brand-new perspective so that I can take refuge in you and rejoice in your goodness. In Jesus Name. AMEN.