I was listening to this song on the way to work this
morning and reflecting on my thoughts about it over the past year or so. You
can't go more than a few days at the Ranch without hearing it, so I've heard
and sung these words so many times I could sing them backwards in my sleep, but
these words never get old. Every time I sing this song though, I feel a little
conflicted when I get to "You're never gonna let me down." On days
like today when two hurricanes have recently ravaged the coasts of our country and
we remember a terrorist attack on our soil, it surely seems like we've been let
down. If we are always trying to use our circumstances as a measure of the
goodness of God, we will not believe these words when we sing them, or we will
sing a false gospel of a god who acts according to our wishes. However, these
words sung with right intentions are POWERFUL. I don't sing that God will never
let me down because I believe my life will go exactly as I have imagined or
hoped it will go or it will be easy and happy all the time. A predictable happy
life is not the surrendered life the Bible presents as the life of a disciple.
As disciples of Jesus, we will likely be disappointed because God did not meet
our expectations in certain circumstances. One of my favorite presentations of
this scenario is in Gene Edwards' book The Prisoner in the Third Cell.
Edwards paints a creative picture of John the Baptist in prison leading up to
his death. John sends word to Jesus asking if he is the Messiah or if he should
look for someone else. Jesus sends word back to John, "The blind see, the
lame walk, and the deaf hear. The gospel is proclaimed and received with
gladness. And blessed is he who is not offended with me." Maybe John is
hoping Jesus will save him from his current circumstance and doubting Jesus'
identity as Messiah because of his imprisonment. Maybe John expects his cousin
for whom he had faithfully prepared the way to free him. And blessed is
he who is not offended with me. John remains in prison and doesn't see
Jesus in person again before he is beheaded at the command of the king. Jesus'
answer to John is one for all of us when our current circumstances and even
future outlook do not seem to be evidence of a good God who never lets us
down. The blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear. The gospel is
proclaimed and received with gladness. But what happens when we are
hearing good news secondhand like John the Baptist? I think the last phrase is
key. And blessed is he who is not offended with me. When life
makes sense and all is well, it's not a stretch to trust a good God. The days
on days in prison with no promise from Jesus for release challenge trust in a
good God. So what does it mean to not be offended with Jesus? It means
believing and trusting so firmly in a good God that through life's little
disappointments and even dashed expectations or unimaginable circumstances, our
belief and trust remain. We will not always feel he has never
let us down, but we can believe he will never let us down.
This is the tension in which we live. We do not always understand, but we
trust--a rare act in our age. But he says we are blessed when we are not
offended with him. He is working all things together for the good of those who
love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Does that
always look like our original plans or our comfort zones? Absolutely not. Back
up in Romans a little bit (8:18), and we see Paul say our present sufferings
are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Fast
forward to the end of chapter 8, and we see that absolutely nothing can
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. All we need for abundant life
is in Him. He himself is good. So this morning when I was listening to the
words of this song yet again, I heard them as a battle cry full of deep trust
and joy and confidence. I imagine each line is a punch in the gut to the enemy.
We declare and sing to our souls he is good and will never let us down in
times of great joy and sorrow, because it is true even in the seasons when we
can't see it so clearly.
