Watching
Psalms 22:7,8 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
They’re watching. They’ve noticed and they’re keeping record. Many of them will never be known; they’ll remain nameless. Yet, all along they’ve taken note that here is someone who has aligned themselves with the Almighty. Here is someone who has desired the Holy One above other elements in life. Will He deliver? Will He preserve from sin and its devastation, or will it be determined that it was all folly to follow and seek after Jesus? When you’re going through a difficulty, when faith is challenged and there seems to be no worth whatsoever in the purpose for which all else has been abandoned, they are watching, a bit like lab technicians, to see if this really works or not.
Often the commission to preach the gospel can be a bit intimidating for some, just never quite identifying with the bullhorn or the white shirt, black tie and bicycle. To set out to proclaim and confront would appear to be such a daunting venture, and yet for the meek and the extrovert, for the boisterous and the shy, there is a story of the gospel being told in every day we live with every choice for or against righteousness. Who we’ve delighted in will set us apart from those who have yet to discover just how beautiful and wonderful He is. Our beverage choice at the restaurant, the car headed to church on Sunday morning, the lack of profane response to conflict, the commitment of time and resources to ministry efforts, and the expressions, unrealized and unrehearsed, that communicate uncontainable belief and passion for Jesus - all tell something to those who are watching.
They will know by our lifestyles with whom we’ve aligned ourselves, but whether or not this was a worthy choice will be proven in His provision, but also in our embrace of Him through times that, to the observer, appear to be unsupported by Him. When He is truly trusted and desired above the rest, there will be times when the trying of our faith is on display for those who have been told with our lives who we love. They may, with an ‘I told you so’ attitude, turn their noses up in the air, shake their heads, and laugh at our ‘apparent’ failures, but the greater their impression with our challenge the greater will also be their conviction of His greatness upon their observance of God’s deliverance and His overwhelming victory in our lives. His power to save will be most impacting for the onlookers when our love, passion, and infatuation for Him hold us true to the path of His leading in the face of disasters to health, finances, reputation, and personal aspiration. It is then that true faith is most displayed and proven.
Though it seems we’re alone in the conflict, though it would appear we’re insignificant and unnoticed, or if noticed the subject of ridicule, there is One other who is watching, seeing every tear and caring for every single thing that would concern us. He is also observing our choices for righteousness and in each one is gaining access to our hearts, to provide what only He can- real hope, peace, and joy. Our lives are continual proclamations of our passion, and in each statement there is an opportunity to show trust in the One who knows the end from the beginning, who will never leave or forsake, and the One before whom all of them will also bow. Let them hide and watch. He will be held and embraced through the greatest of storms and His salvation will be our story through the end of time and all trials.
From the desperation of Psalm 22 to the shepherding of Psalm 23, there is always progression towards provision in the heart embrace of God through the greatest of challenges.
