When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94:18-19
How I think about my life is more than just a rational exercise. I “feel” my way through my day. I may plan my agenda but I cannot plan my feelings and emotional responses. I cannot plan for the unexpected misunderstandings, frustrations, moments of disregard, and inevitable emotional bumps and bruises that might accompany a day’s experience. These things come from family, friends, co-workers, ministry partners, and people to whom I wish to display my love and care. Even my closest loved friends and family can impact positively or negatively with actions or with inactions how I will perceive myself and my experiences. It is part of being human. An important part of how I think is how I feel.
I love the observations in these two verses of Psalm 94. They describe two types of regular feelings that come our way. The first is a feeling of “out of control” uncertainty: “my foot slips”. Notice that the psalmist “feels” like he is losing control… losing footing… losing direction. Yet underneath that feeling he finds by faith a greater assurance: God’s faithful love upholds even in the uncertainty. God’s faithfulness can remedy my loss of emotional balance and my fear of instability. Let’s face it, I know I am a control freak when it comes to what I want. Most people are. I need to know God holds me even when the footing starts to get slippery and I am not in control!
The second feeling is anxiety: “the cares of my heart are many”. In the grip of fear we can forget God as pulses pound and thoughts race a million ways to disaster. Yet we are reminded to KNOW that God comforts, consoles, and cheers the soul. Neither uncertainty nor anxiety can remove us from God’s faithful and constant care. God holds us up. God cheers us up. God will direct our thoughts beyond how we feel if we have faith to trust Him and His Word!
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