Psalm 98:2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

God does work in hidden ways we cannot see, but He also works in ways that should be obvious to the whole world. The problem is, much of the world still stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that it’s God at work. The current situation in Ukraine is a case in point. The whole world is shocked at how Ukraine is driving the Russians out of their territory, but they attribute it entirely to the equipment and training provided by Western nations to Ukraine and to the poor condition of the Russian military, and take no account of the prayers of believers around the world. There are many, many other examples, starting with the very existence of the State of Israel, but many people are stubbornly blind. It can at times be very difficult to maintain faith in God’s salvation, in His righteousness, and I’m not just talking about the macro scale of wars and nations. Personal trials are if anything even more difficult to handle in our own strength. The point is to choose to believe, to remember the many wonderful things God has done in the past and trust that He will do them again, effectively speaking. God hardly ever does exactly the same thing twice, but He does work His salvation and demonstrate His righteousness again and again in countless ways. The blacker things look, the more we need to fix the eyes of our heart on Jesus, in whom is no darkness at all. (Hebrews 12:2, 1 John 1:5) We cannot dictate His timing, nor even understand it at times, but we can trust that He will do what is right.

I am in the middle of training in this. Yesterday my wife and I went to be seen by the surgeon who did the two surgeries on her back, in a city that is over an hour from here by car. The upshot was that she is now scheduled to have him insert a catheter next Wednesday into her spinal canal through her coccyx and essentially vacuum out detritus around her spinal cord, relieving the pressure on her nerves that has given her such pain. She also received a new medication she hasn’t tried before, in hopes that it would help with the pain for the next week. Unfortunately, she still had such pain in the night that she has had very little sleep, and her crying out from her pain has reduced my sleep as well (though I have nothing to complain about compared to her). We want God’s salvation to be manifested! I have long been very aware of Jesus’ statement that “In this world you will have trouble,” but I need to remember the whole quote: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The pain my wife is experiencing tries to take away our peace, but God’s plan is for us to have His peace and joy whatever is going on in and around us.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I really didn’t know what I was going to write from such a joyful Psalm when I was certainly feeling less than joyful! Help us both release each moment to You and rest, relax, and rejoice, just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!