July 19

God will hear and humiliate them—the One enthroned for the ages—Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God. — Ps 55:19 BSB

True religion is the most weighty and mysterious matter we will ever encounter. It will either comfort or distress you. It will either trouble your soul, cast down your spirit, and make you truly miserable, or be the source of your greatest comfort and joy. From religion come our deepest sorrows and highest joys, our greatest uneasiness and sweetest peace.

True religion has this unique characteristic: in times of prosperity, it may cause the most trouble, while in times of adversity, it may bring the purest joy. What are wealth, health, titles, or all the comforts of this world to a wounded spirit? And what are poverty, sickness, persecution, or even imprisonment to a soul basking in the love of God?

Religion makes its presence felt wherever it exists and testifies to its power. If you are a true partaker of religion, no matter who you are or where you are, you will not be at ease in Zion, for something will always rise up from your heart or from outside circumstances to unsettle you.

Job was once at ease, but God didn’t let him die in his comfort. Job said, “I was at ease, but he has shattered me; he has seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as his target.” Yet, even with all this unexpected and seemingly cruel treatment, Job could still say, “Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.” Though he was so distressed that he cried, “I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth. Have mercy on me, my friends, for the hand of God has struck me,” he could still declare, in full confidence of faith, “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were inscribed in a book, engraved with an iron tool on lead, or carved in stone forever! I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my body has decayed, yet in my flesh I will see God! I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:23-27).