My title for today’s devotion is God’s Distraction vs God’s Attention.

It’s not unusual to read stories of people who have “Job-like” experiences, ask a lot of questions, but cling to the hope of God’s unfailing love and attention. It’s also common to read of those who are fed up with God’s (seeming) inattention and abandon hope and faith.

I would like to believe that if I ever entered a season of intense pain and suffering and loss that I would cling to hope like Job did. (not that I want to experience that kind of season). When David was hiding from Saul in the cave, he wrote Psalm 57. What a wonderful psalm!! His cries to God in the midst of incredible trial are filled with agony and pain but also hope and peace. Listen to these words:

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amidst fiery beasts-the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (3b-5)

I love the description of the enemy: lions; fiery beasts; teeth are spears and arrows; tongues are sharp swords. That’s what it feels like when it appears I’m being attacked from all sides. (But I do have to admit I have not been attacked in a Job-like manner. It just feels like it sometimes.)

But that’s not the highlight of those verses. That’s setting the stage for the ending: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” [v.5] There is something to be said about praise in the midst of pain. In 57:1 David says his soul takes refuge in God and he is under the shadow of his wings.

“When the way gets dark, Father, and the clouds roll in; the thunder roars; the lightning flashes and it appears hope is gone, help me to trust in your steadfast love. Help me to not lose heart, to feel as though you aren’t listening or don’t care. Instead, help me to know your attention to my detail.”