Sermon Archives
A Heart Cry of Assurance
Psalm 31A Heart Cry to God
J. Josh Smith
October 9, 2016
Description:
Our lives, like David’s Psalms, are symphonies of affliction and assurance. One moment we feel at rest, safe and secure in God’s strong hand, and the next moment we feel alone, defeated, and scared having been beaten down by affliction. This is the journey of the people of God—a journey full of highs and lows. It is not freedom from affliction that makes the people of God unique from the world; we suffer like they suffer. Rather, what makes us unique is the assurance we have in God in the midst of affliction. We have assurance of God’s sufficiency, loyalty, and goodness in affliction. We run to God in affliction not to get something from Him, but to get Him, knowing He is sufficient. We rest in His “steadfast love,” which is His eternal commitment to us despite our faithlessness toward Him. We stand on His goodness in the past and look forward to His goodness in the future. These are the assurances we have in God while experiencing affliction. Our assurance in God fights the effects of our affliction. Though we do not always feel assured of His sufficiency, loyalty, and goodness, we believe it. Assurance is grounded in truth revealed rather than feelings felt.
My encouragement to you is to both preach the Gospel of God’s sufficiency, loyalty, and goodness to yourself AND to others. If you are experiencing affliction today, preach this good news to your own soul. Meditate on the promises of God. Rest in His presence and find sufficient grace in Him. If you are not experiencing affliction today, you have brothers and sisters who are. Enter into their affliction. Weep with those who weep. Encourage the fainthearted. Bear one another’s burdens. This is what Christian community does. You need community and the community of Christ in the church needs you. With the reality of affliction in the world around us, we must continually seek to grow in our relationship with God and with other Christians. Finish the race!
Keywords:
Assurance, Confidence