The Real Graduate.

As it is written: "For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:36)

All day long my dishonor is before me and my humiliation has overwhelmed me, because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from Your way. (Psalm 44:15-18)

As we continue our Lenten meditations on the love of God, let us take time today to consider Pastor Sam's point concerning "kindergarten theology"-- that is, the belief that life's circumstances are always indicators of whether we are in good standing with God. As an example, our pastor shared a summary of the book of Job. In that book, most of the chapters are accounts of Job's friends insisting that Job must have done something wrong in order to have been the recipient of countless hardships. But God made it clear from the outset that Job's trials came not because of Job's sins, but because of Job's faithfulness. Satan, through the use of pain, was attempting to make Job turn away from worshiping God.

Regrettably, kindergarten theology is alive and well today. Many a Christian has opted to walk away from God when times get tough. They withhold His tithe. They stop praising Him. Or, worse, they assume that they must have engaged in some action that broke their relationship with God.

In Romans 8:36, the apostle Paul pulls a quotation from Psalm 44:22. In that psalm, we read of a situation similar to Job's: in a context of adoration and authentic worship of God, God's people encounter persecution and sufferings. Fortunately, the psalm is filled with worship even as the suffering is acknowledged. Kindergarten theology is nowhere to be found.

I encourage all of us to read Psalm 44 today. Reading the psalm will give us a better sense of why Paul quoted from it. Knowing the psalm will bring us a reassurance that we are not alone in our sufferings.

In the worst of day-to-day circumstances, we are known and loved by our great God.

Be encouraged today.