Falling and Rising: How to Cling to God in the Dirt

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

Psalm 20:7-8 ESV

Trusting in God’s victory over death and this dark world doesn’t mean that we don’t get dirty from time to time.  Since God’s ultimate victory came in the apparent defeat of Jesus on the cross, shouldn’t we, His children, seek God’s victory in the unlikely places?

In Psalm 20:7 those who rise and stand are those who trust in God. But we would not need to rise and stand if we had not already fallen. In other words those who don’t trust in God eventually fall and stay collapsed on the ground, but those who trust in God fall then rise and stand upright. Sometimes God orchestrates life such that we fall flat on our faces and we find ourselves with dust in our eyes and grit in our mouths. Those who don’t trust God collapse and fall, that is the end of their story. But if we trust in the name of the Lord our God, the dirt is not the end of our story.

And so it is when we rub our eyes and spit the grit out of our mouths we can trust God and rise. When our children choose to walk from the faith, or our marriages begin to disintegrate we can wallow in the dust or we can rise as we trust God. This rising doesn’t mean that all our difficult dusty moments in life will turn out how we want them to turn out. Sometimes God has a different miracle in mind– one that doesn’t reconcile a marriage or heal an illness. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t victorious. It just means that God’s ways are higher than our ways. It means that we can trust God whether we get the victory we were looking for or if it comes a different way.

Still we can stand, dusty faced, but triumphant because we trusted in the Lord.

Dear God, we confess that sometimes we dictate how Your victory ought to come in our lives. We trust You only when we can understand how You are working. Father forgive us. Help us to trust You when we are covered in dirt, give us strength to rise and stand firm on Your promises. Remind us that even if we can’t see it or don’t understand it You are victorious. Help us to trust in You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.