A confession: Sometimes I get tired of perky Christians.
In fact, there are times in the midst of a Psalm 88 kind of week (or month, or year) when I want to avoid them like the plague. It pains me to say it, but a steady diet of “God is good!” and “Jesus loves you!” isn’t always helpful.
God is good. He does love me. But during tough times—when the crosses are heavy and seemingly endless—I’m not always feeling the love. When I get stuck like that there’s a healthy way out: I focus my devotions on other aspects of God.
For example, I meditate on the otherness of God, thinking of him not as the familiar Abba but as the creator who is far greater than I can comprehend:
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8)
Or I ponder the powerful and compassionate workings of the Holy Spirit, who knows me better than I know myself:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”(Romans 8:26)
Or I seek comfort in the mystery of the cross, knowing that my difficulties can somehow draw me into a deeper knowledge of my savior:
“But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13)
Yes, God is love. But God is also majestic, all-knowing, all-powerful, creative, compassionate, forgiving and far-seeing. When my heart is unable to appreciate one aspect of his goodness, it can always find another.
