It's good to think more deeply about the mercies of God in times of crisis. To help guide us in this effort, we'll consider Paul David Tripp's collection of meditations from Psalm 27 called "A Shelter in the Time of Storm." You can get your own copy on Amazon here.

When evildoers assail me...
one thing...

Psalm 27:2, 4

If doing the right thing isn't easy in normal times, how much harder is it when we're under attack? In my own life I see how impactful otherwise neutral things can be on my holiness - lack of sleep, hunger, a too-long todo list. When these things "turn on me" I can quickly become selfishly sinful and convince myself that doing so is okay.

When people "turn on us," do we do the same thing? Does their sin or offense allow us to justify reciprocal, sinful, behavior?  After all, don't you know what they did to us? Tripp says that, among other things, we lose our way by "allowing your mind to be consumed with playing over and over again a mental DVD of what someone said or did."

This tendency to "lose our way" when someone (or something) goes against us is why we can be so good at giving wise and godly counsel to other people about their situations and yet behave with sinful selfishness when we are the victims of wrong doing.

Questions to Consider

The questions are Tripp's. I included my answers in case they're helpful to read.

1. In what way do you tend to lose your way when you are being wronged?

- I give myself permission not to engage with the other person in a healthy way. I make it their responsibility to come to me and address my issue, rather than "leaving my gift at the altar and going to my brother."

2. If your heart was satisfied by Christ, how would your response to being wronged change?

- My heart is satisfied by Christ. If I acted out of that satisfaction at all times I wouldn't justify selfish and sinful behavior just because someone offended or sinned against me.