Your Goodness And Love Will Follow

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.. (Psalm 23:6)

It can be easy, as a Christian, to spend a lot of time looking forward to the Afterlife. To Heaven. What could possibly sound as appealing, to those who love God, than the prospect of spending Eternity with Him? But you know, the first part of Psalm 23:6 reminds me that we don't have to wait for death to enjoy life with our Lord.

The NIV translates that section as "Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life."

When you commit to a life following Christ, you're inviting Him to dwell with you, to share your life. That's what Christians mean when we say we have a "relationship" with Him. It means He is there. It means we can talk to Him. We can enjoy His presence. 

So often, we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives, it's easy to forget He is literally with us. Because we can't see Him by our sides, it's easy to think of Him as being far away; as being someone we can only reach during our devotions or those quiet moments of prayer. But if you allow yourself to see, you will find His goodness and mercy follows you.

You can live an abundant life, filled with the goodness, love and mercy of Christ, right now. You don't have to wait for Heaven. He is there with you, if you just look for Him. 

Let this be an encouragement. No matter what's going on today, no matter what you have to do, your Lord walks by your side. He is with you in that meeting you've been dreading at work. He's with you in the crowded grocery store, when all you want to do is pack up your kids and go back home. He's with you as He nudges you to talk to that lonely person at school or work.

He is with you, once you find Him, with all His goodness and mercy, all the days of your life.

Only The Lonely

I can't speak for everyone, but it seems the darkest periods in my life were when I was at my loneliest. It's a
funny thing, loneliness. Okay, maybe not "ha ha" funny, but it's strange. You can be surrounded -- even by friends -- and still feel a deep longing and sadness. Nearly my entire Sophomore year in college was marked by this sort of inexplicable depression. I had friends -- great friends! I belonged. And yet, I was lonely.

I've looked back on this period in my life often, with great curiosity. It took me until years later to realize that the enemy -- Satan -- will use whatever arrows are in his quiver to keep you from doing as God desires. If you allow him, he will whisper in your ear tales of worthlessness and friendlessness, doubts about the friends you have, questions about your value to others. And when you listen, that loneliness creeps in, slowly at first, and building into something almost intolerable. It's broken many, and still more will walk with a spiritual limp as a reminder of the struggle.

By the grace of God, I remain unbroken, and most days the limp is barely noticeable. There are days, to be sure, when a shadow of doubt will still creep in. As my arthritic knees -- constant reminders of an injury in my youth -- will creak and ache on humid days, so my limping soul will under certain conditions begin to seize and groan with the memory of past hurt.

But we're not alone. No matter what the Devil is whispering in our ears, no matter how bleak our lives can look while we're in the midst of a sea of self-doubt, our God is standing with His hands reaching out. Just as He reached for Peter when his doubt caused him to sink in the raging waters, He grasps our hands and waits for us to refocus on Him and climb back to His level.

Psalm 34:18 reminds us "God is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Who is hurting in your life? Is there one who is lonely or brokenhearted? We -- you and I -- are the arms of Christ. The physical manifestation of His love for His children.

James 1:27 reminds us that the very essence of religion is ministry to the lonely.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

We are never alone. When we are at our loneliest, the enemy says nobody cares. But it's a lie.  You have value. You have value to God, and you have value to those around you. Don't believe the words of an enemy who wants to see you fall. Believe instead the words of the God who made you, who loves you, and who can't wait to have you by His side.