Do Not Judge God by One Painful Experience

Painful experiences can cause us to question God, ourselves, and the decisions that brought us to our present season. Drawing from Psalm 73, this message encourages you to remain near God, trust His counsel, and remember that He is still holding your right hand. Your present trouble is not the whole story, and God’s guidance is still leading you forward.

Transcript

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Your present experience is going to be painful, confusing, or difficult to explain. But it does not mean that God has abandoned his counsel concerning your life. Even when you cannot see the plan, the plan still exists. Good morning and welcome to this expression of igniting your day. There are seasons when you already know what God has said concerning your life. You understand his direction and you know what he wants you to do. In those moments, remaining aligned with his counsel may appear easier because the instruction is clear. But there are also seasons when you cannot tell what God is doing. You may not understand the direction. You may not see the plan. You may not know what the next step should be. However, the fact that you do not know God's counsel does not mean that his counsel does not exist. Whether you can see it or not, God has a plan for your life. Many times we struggle through life not because God has no plan for us, but because we have not yet recognized or understood the plan He has prepared. In such seasons, our prayer should be that the people, the instructions, and resources God has appointed to guide us will not remain hidden from us. There are people God may send to help you understand what you must do. There are teachers, there are counselors, and divine connections that may carry the clarity you need for your present season. When the angel spoke to Cornelius concerning Peter, he explained that Peter would tell him what he needed to do. God had already prepared the instruction, but Cornelius still needed to be connected to the person through whom that instruction would come. In the same way, God's counsel exists concerning your life, even when you have not yet received the full understanding of it. My prayer for you today is that wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you will remain inseparable from God's counsel. Psalm 73 describes the experience of a man whose understanding of life was deeply troubled. The psalmist looked at the prosperity of the wicked and became discouraged. He saw people who appeared arrogant, careless, and ungodly, yet they seemed to prosper. Meanwhile, he was trying to keep his heart pure, but his life appeared to be filled with affliction. He began to question whether his faithfulness had been worthwhile. Let me read Psalm 73, verse 13 and 14 for you. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishment. Let me read that again. Psalm 73, verse 13 to 14. It says, Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments. Because he was experiencing pain, he concluded that the purity he had had been useless. Because affliction continued, he began to think that his commitment to God had produced nothing. This is important because painful experiences can distort the way we interpret God. When life becomes difficult, we may begin to believe that our obedience was wasted. We may begin to believe that our prayers were ignored. We may begin to believe that our commitment to God accomplished nothing. But a painful moment does not give us the complete picture. In the sanctuary, he began to see beyond the immediate circumstances. He realized that what appeared to be prosperity was not the whole story, and what appeared to be personal failure was not the end of his journey. Let me read verse 21 to 24 of the same Psalm 73. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and arrogant. I was a brute beast before you, yet I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. Your heart is grieved because you do not like what has happened. Your spirit is bitter because you remember that you did not originally want to take the step that brought you into that situation. Sometimes, when people experience the painful consequence of a decision, they begin to blame those who encourage them to take it. For example, a person may be experiencing a serious trouble in a marriage. The individual is grieved because of the trouble, but also bitter because they did not initially want to marry. In moments of loneliness, the person may begin blaming those who encouraged the relationship. The grief comes from what has happened. The bitterness comes from looking backwards and wishing the original decision had never been made. These are real emotions that people experience in seasons of trouble. Yet the psalmist said, Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holding me by my right hand. In other words, despite the grief, despite the confusion, despite the bitterness, God had not released him. Even while his understanding was limited, God was still holding him. Even while he was emotionally overwhelmed, God remained present. Even while he was struggling to interpret his circumstances correctly, God had not abandoned his position in the psalmist's life. That is the encouragement for us today. You may not understand what is happening, but God is still holding you. The psalmist said that God held him by his right hand. In many biblical contexts, the right hand is associated with strength, authority, and action. Therefore, when God holds you by your right hand, it carries a powerful picture. First, it means that you do not have to move independently of him. God's hand restrains you from acting outside his permission and direction. Second, it means that whatever you accomplish will not be through your strength alone. If your hand of strength is being held by God, then your movement, progress, and effectiveness must depend upon his power. He holds you by your right hand. This does not merely mean that you remain in his presence. It also means that you learn to move at his pace. You cannot run ahead while he is holding you. You cannot successfully move in the opposite direction while remaining surrendered to his grip. His hold becomes your protection. His hold becomes your restraint. His hold becomes your guidance. Therefore, declare with faith this morning that the Lord holds you by your right hand. When your strength is failing, he holds you. When your understanding is limited, he holds you. When you are tempted to walk away, he holds you. When you do not know how to continue, he holds you. Your hope is not only that you are holding on to God, your hope is that God is holding on to you. Verse 24 of the same Psalm 73 says, Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward, receive me to glory. The counsel of God is what leads us towards the destiny He prepared. The phrase, receive me to glory, is not only an invitation to think about life after death. No. Within the movement of this message, it also gives us a picture of God guiding a person onto the glorious destiny that he prepared for the person. God guides us with his counsel, and his counsel moves us towards God's intended destination. This is why it is good to stay near God. This is why it is good to surround oneself with godly counsel. Verse 28 says, But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works. Why is it good to remain near God as the psalmist has rendered it? Because he guides us with his counsel. Why must we resist the temptation to withdraw from him during painful seasons? Because his counsel is leading us beyond the present trouble. Why must we remain conscious of his presence? Because the God who holds our hand is also directing our path. No matter what you are going through, there is something beyond this present stage. There is an afterwards. The present trouble is not the entire story. Romans chapter 8, verse 18 teaches that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Do not allow the burden of what we are experiencing now to prevent you from recognizing that God is still holding your hand and leading you forward. The psalmist initially interpreted his experience incorrectly. He thought his purity had been in vain. He thought his affliction was evidence that faithfulness had produced nothing. But his present experience was too small to explain the totality of God's plan. In the same way, do not judge God by one experience. Your experience is only one part of a much larger journey. Do not judge yourself solely by what you are presently going through. No, your current circumstances do not contain the full explanation of who you are becoming or where God is leading you. The experiences you are having may be connected to the path God has appointed to you, and the path may be connected to the outcome He desires for your life. Therefore, judging God or judging yourself through one isolated experience can lead you to the wrong conclusion. It may have been a hard season, but God is still kind. It may have been a confusing journey, but God is still loving. You may not understand why certain things were permitted, but you must resist the temptation to build your entire understanding of God around one painful event. Please do not judge God based on this experience. Do not withdraw from Him because of what has happened. Do not take a back seat in your relationship with God because one part of the journey has been painful. Do not rob yourself of the glorious destination by abandoning the one whose counsel is leading you there. The psalmist also recognized that he could have spoken wrongly while he was distressed. Behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. Thank God for the thoughts that you did not speak aloud. In seasons of deep pain, terrible conclusions may pass through the mind. You may feel abandoned. You may question your decisions. You may wonder whether your obedience was worthwhile, but not every thought produced by pain should be turned into a declaration. The psalmist recognized that speaking carelessly could have affected other people. Our words carry influence. Therefore, when your understanding is incomplete, remain careful about the conclusions you announce. Give yourself room to enter God's presence. Give yourself room to receive another perspective. Give yourself room to discover that the chapter you are interpreting is not the final chapter. The psalmist eventually declared, But it is good for me to draw near to God. That is the response required from us. When you understand what God is doing, stay near him. When you do not understand what God is doing, stay near him. When you feel strong, stay near him. When you feel that your strength has completely failed, stay near him. There may be someone who feels that they no longer have the strength to continue. You may not know how to hold on to God. In that moment, remember this truth: he holds you by your right hand. Your confidence is not in the strength of your grip. Your confidence is in the strength of his hand. As you proceed on this journey, he holds you. As you walk through the grief, he holds you. As you recover from disappointment, he holds you. As you wait for understanding, he holds you. As you move towards the destiny he has prepared, he holds you. I'd like to pray for you this morning that you will not judge God by the current pain you are going through. I pray for you as well that you will not judge yourself by the painful failures you have experienced. Instead, I pray for you that you continue to live your life conscious of his presence and conscious of the fact that he holds your hands. I am wishing you this morning an amazing day ahead. God bless you.