We can all have struggles in our lives, and as Christians, we all need encouragement. Even when things are going well for us in terms of our physical situation and personal happiness - our job’s going well, we’ve got a good wife/husband and so on, we still need encouragement. We need to keep on seeking God and wanting to please him. Perhaps you are finding something in your life to be difficult. You need to look to God for the desire and strength to overcome it.

Psalm 23

1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4. Even though I walk through the deepest darkness, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5. You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Looking at Psalm 23:

Whether we are struggling with life or are quite comfortable, as Christians we know that we are carried through life by God. We depend on him, in our lives now and for our future hope. With the first verse of  Psalm 23, we need to consider the meaning of these words for ourselves. I'm sure there have been plenty of times that we have been in want for different things, and yet we still find truth in this verse. Because God is with us and is carrying us, we have the 'essentials' that we need - the spiritual security that He provides.

How do we come to terms with our times of suffering, times when it sometimes feels like God has left us and we feel so alone? Well, as Christians we are not immune to suffering, God can draw positive things out of our suffering (Romans 8:28). Even if this does not make full sense of our suffering, it does bring a positive dynamic from it, as to some extent it cancels out the sense of waste we often feel from “the years that the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25).

Many people say that we suffer for a reason. They claim that there is a purpose if we suffer, and if we cannot see that purpose at the time, we will be able to look back and see God at work for our good through the suffering. From personal experience, I can say that the great suffering I have been through seemed senseless at the time. Looking back, I thought - what was the point in that?  If only this or that would have happened, or I would have chosen to live here rather than here - I would have been spared so much suffering.

But then looking back I saw that through the suffering, some of my fatal character and spiritual flaws were sorted out - refined. The consequences of not going through some of my suffering would have been worse. I could see how some of my attitudes and expectations about having a marital relationship, and its place in my life, would have wrecked any chance of a healthy relationship. However, there will not always be an obvious purpose to suffering - if you cannot find one, you are to be both commended and encouraged: you need all the more faith to trust in God and not give up on your faith.

The verse from Joel (2:25) promises that God can “make things back to us”. This is not to say, that God has orchestrated our suffering in the first place, or that better times in themselves cancel the reality of the past out, or heal our hurts. No, God recognizes and respects our suffering, whether we ourselves had any part to play in its cause or not.

Also, try to imagine what it would be like if we did not even have God in those difficult times. It may be that as I have, you have felt very alone during difficult times, as if God has abandoned you. However, despite our feelings, we know that God is always with us. Both Christians and non-Christians can take comfort that God was/is there for them at low points. Even for people who do not know God, out of his love he is there wanting to come into new relationship with them, caring about their suffering. However we have felt at times, without God with us, we would have felt much worse, and would have had no hope at all.

Verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 23 talk of how God is a Shepherd to us. He provides for us, and cares for our well-being. On the big question of why at times it seems that this fails to happen, even when we are faithful to God. God’s love does not allow him to abandon us or cut himself off from our suffering. He cares about our suffering, and in his will would rather prevent it. However, for whatever the reasons, we live in a bad world, where everything is negatively affected by that badness.