For the Lord will not forsake his people;
Psalm 94:14-15
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Ignoring the laundry and dishes, I balled up on the sofa and cried, “If You love marriage so much, why didn’t You save this?”
Two days before, divorce proceedings had begun. The trajectory I’d prayed over and begged God to change for years was moving in the direction opposite of what I’d desperately hoped. This new reality left me grasping for God at the same time I felt invisible to Him. This wasn’t what I wanted. Surely it didn’t align with God’s plan for me. Or for my children.
When our hopes and dreams take a turn we don’t want and may have begged God to course correct, the sting runs deep. When a faith that was certain is suddenly confused, it is soul-shaking. When the One we have counted on appears to be unaware or unconcerned with our plight, it can feel like a silent slap in the face.
Thank goodness He is more than those hard moments. And in these moments, reminding ourselves of the truth of God’s character is more important than ever.
In Psalm 94, we are reminded of a series of beautiful truths.
• We are His people – He will not forsake us.
• We are His heritage – He will not abandon us.
• He is a God of justice – The wrongs we see and feel so clearly will not go unaddressed.
You know what else is in this passage? The word “return.” For something to be returned, it must have gone away. Or been taken.
That is also a truth of this hard life, isn’t it? Things will not always go the way we planned, and in our humanness, our lives will not always mirror the exact trajectory we imagine God has laid out for us. The reality of living in a fallen world is that we do not have that luxury of a life free from worry, hurt, and devastating heartbreak. We are promised that repeatedly throughout Scripture.
But, “justice will return.” It is certain. It isn’t gone for good. We are not forgotten, overlooked, ignored, or discarded. He sees me. And He sees you.
Lean into the truth of who you are (you are His), how He loves you (He will not abandon you), and the faithfulness of our God of justice who will return righteousness. Even when we can’t see it working, trust that He is. And He sees a big, broad, beautiful picture.
