Strong times sustain hard times

 This week's verses are the entirety of Psalm 77:

I will cry out to God and call for help.
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention to me.
In my time of trouble I sought the Lord.
I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night.
I refused to be comforted.
I said, “I will remember God while I groan;
I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” (Selah)
You held my eyelids open;
I was troubled and could not speak.
I thought about the days of old,
about ancient times.
I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;
I will think very carefully.”
I tried to make sense of what was happening.
I asked, “Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me his favor?
Has his loyal love disappeared forever?
Has his promise failed forever?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has his anger stifled his compassion?” (Selah)
Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought
that the Most High might become inactive.

I will remember the works of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago.
I will think about all you have done;
I will reflect upon your deeds.”
O God, your deeds are extraordinary.
What god can compare to our great God?
You are the God who does amazing things;
you have revealed your strength among the nations.
You delivered your people by your strength—
the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and trembled.
Yes, the depths of the sea shook with fear.
The clouds poured down rain;
the skies thundered.
Yes, your arrows flashed about.
Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;
the lightning bolts lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
You walked through the sea;
you passed through the surging waters,
but left no footprints.
You led your people like a flock of sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

We had seven baptisms in my church this weekend, a few of which had some pretty moving testimonies of bad times turned to good. But what happens when good times turn to bad? I've found that Christians are often much less prepared for good times to end, or for hardship to show no signs of letting up. Some people even forget who God is, because their faith was anchored to this unbiblical idea that life would be one linear path to increasing awesomeness.

The Psalmist in this week's verses is going through a crisis like that. My friends who were baptized this weekend will likely also encounter hardships soon enough. After such a high point that so clearly humiliates the powers of darkness in our world, there is usually some kind of push back. But how do we manage? Who is God to us in those moments? Do we even accept the fact that things will not always be perfect all the time?

The Psalmist starts off in prayer. Prayer is always a good place to start. It is way more effective than worry, and oftentimes we find help without having to do more than that. He asks God the usual questions, the "why me? why now? where are you in all of this?" questions. He seems particularly focused on sorting this out with God, which is what we all should do when we are in those moments.

Instead of dwelling on his doubts exclusively, wondering if God is interested in him, wondering if he's even active, he dwells on the great things God has done, both personally and globally. He thinks about his previous encounters with God. He thinks about the wonders of creation. He even dredges up Bible stories that he has already accepted on faith.

When we are having a hard time and cry out to God, he will hear us and pay attention to us. And when we dwell on his greatness and remind ourselves of the good things he's done for us and for others, we don't waste time in useless worry. Instead we acknowledge his awesomeness and wait for his response.

When God does something good in your life, or when you notice something about the universe that draws your attention to his greatness and the realness of his hand in our world, write it down. Memorize it. Memorialize it the way the Psalmist did, so that when you encounter hard times you will have that warm ember to keep your faith alive.