¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ Unless the LORD had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.
¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.

–Psalm 94.16-19 (NIV)

¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. ¹⁶ People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

–Hebrews 6.13-20 (NIV)

In today’s lesson from the Psalms, the psalmist is lamenting the effects of evil and wondering how he is going to survive it. He concludes that unless God steps in to take care of him and calm his anxiety, he surely will not make. If we have lived long enough, we can surely relate to the psalmist’s feelings because each of us has had times in our lives when it feels like evil has surely triumphed and God has bailed on us.

But as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, this simply isn’t true. Looks can be deceiving and the mystery of evil and suffering will have to remain just that–a mystery. What Scripture tells us to do is to essentially stop asking the “why questions” about evil and suffering and concentrate instead on finding real help so that we can cope effectively when things go south for us. That real help, of course, comes from God and we can depend on it because God is not a liar. Now we can choose to effectively call God a liar by not believing in his promises, but that does not make God a liar. That says more about us and our pride and stubborn rebelliousness than it does about who God is.

So how does God help us when evil besets us? How does God’s unfailing love support us? How does he console us so that we might even find some joy in the midst of our suffering? Typically we make the mistake of trying to pigeonhole God by having certain expectations for how God can and should comfort and support us, and when God does not choose to act in the way or ways we expect, we are ready to accuse him of checking out on us.

It’s the same problem that Jesus faced when he walked the earth. The Messiah he was violated the expectations of most people of his day. Most refused to believe that he was God’s anointed and we all know what happened to Jesus. Likewise with our expectations for how God should comfort and support us. True, God can wave his hand, so to speak, and make everything better for us. But typically God does not work that way. Instead, God typically chooses to work through the ordinary people and events of our lives, just the way he did when he became human and walked among us as Jesus.

Accordingly, God may choose to bring us support and comfort through our Christian friends. After all, the essence of being a Christian is to bring Christ’s love to bear on people when they need it most and there is no reason for us not to expect God to do that for us in our time of need. How often do we miss God’s love and support for us expressed through our friends (and even on occasion, perfect strangers)? If we are not looking for God’s help in this manner, we are quite likely to miss it completely. That is why it is so critical for us to be part of a Christian fellowship so that we can learn to see God act in and through them and learn to open ourselves up to God so that he can use us to help others in their hour of need.

God can also use ordinary means of grace to comfort and support us. We can find both when we read Scripture. The more familiar we are with Scripture the better equipped we are to see God’s love and movement coming to bear among his people. We read the overarching narrative of God’s rescue plan for sinful humanity, to end our alienation and exile from him forever, culminating in Jesus. We read how God has brought comfort and support to his hurting people in the time of their great need, people like Abraham, Moses, Esther, and Paul. We read comforting words in the Psalms, like Psalm 23, and we are comforted by them. We also find hope and comfort in the promise of New Creation.

We can find support and comfort in prayer when God speaks to the very depth of our souls if we will but come to him and ask him for his help. How often do we fail to do this! It’s not unlike how things in this life go. Folks will typically respond to our level of expectation for them. If we don’t think they are capable of much, we don’t expect much from them and consequently won’t ask them to do something we really do not think they are capable of doing. How often are we guilty of doing that to God in our prayers? Or how often are we guilty of trying to make God bend to our will and expectations expressed in our prayers?

We can also find support and comfort through the fellowship of believers who assemble each Sunday to worship God and give him thanks and praise for all he has done and is doing for us. We won’t do this, however, if we really don’t think he’s done much to warrant our praise and thanksgiving. But that gets back to the trust thingy that the author of Hebrews talked about in today’s Epistle lesson.

Now let me be clear. Even when God brings support and comfort to us, that doesn’t mean that everything magically changes. If, for example, we are grieving the death of a loved one, our sorrow will not magically go away. What will happen is that we will find comfort in the midst of our sorrow and hope where there is none warranted by the standards of the world. In some cases we might find almost miraculous relief but we need to be humble enough and trust God enough to believe he is in charge and knows best for us and our lost loved ones. We also need to remember that Jesus is even now praying for us and guiding us through the power and Presence of his Spirit. He may be out of our sight but we certainly are not out of his mind!

As you struggle with your problems and the evil that besets you, remember these things. God typically chooses to work through the ordinary to bring you help and relief. He won’t make you immune from the problem of evil but he will provide you with everything you need to cope with. But you have to let him and you dare not try to pigeonhole him into acting according to your demands and expectations. Remember that God is God and you are not, and act accordingly.

When you do, you will find just what you need when you need it and it will in turn help you become someone God can use to help minister to his other broken and hurting people. We may not like how this all works but that really isn’t the issue. The real issue is this: Are we open to God’s love for us in our lives? Are we willing to say yes to the people and resources he sends our way to help us in our need? If you are, you will join with countless other Christians who testify that the psalmist’s words above are true. You will find the very comfort and support of God and in finding it you will find that you have tapped into a power Source sufficient for any challenge that comes your way.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!