"[Yahweh] raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage pile in order to seat them with nobles—with the nobles of His people. He gives the childless woman a household, making her the joyful mother of children" (Psalm 113:7-9).
I love this passage, because is shows that God is a god of divine reversals. God takes the poor and needy and sits them with princes; He takes the childless woman and He gives her children and a household. Divine reversals imply that every human option has been exhausted. There is no hope for a change... but God.
But God takes the jobless and He gives them a job.
He takes the lonely and places them in community.
He takes the weak and makes them strong.
He takes the prodigal and brings him home.
He takes the broken and makes them whole.
If you think about it, most of the stories in the Bible are dramatic. They're filled with divine reversals. God took Joseph from a dingy prison cell and made him ruler of Egypt. He took David from hiding in desert caves and made him king. He took Ruth the Moabitess and made her the great-grandmother of David. And in the greatest divine reversal of all time, the Son of God became man.
These are things only God is capable of.
Jesus' words to His disciples are evident all throughout Scripture: "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). But most of us would probably put an asterisk by that and write in the fine print: *results may vary. We say, "Sure, God did it for Joseph and David, and for my sister and my friend, but God won't do it for me. My situation is too hopeless" or "I've made too many mistakes."
We say we believe in God's promises, but when it comes down to it, we think we're the exception, the one the fine print is meant for, the only one God's promises don't apply to.
Betsy Childs Howard, in her book Seasons of Waiting, writes, "Although you may be in a place where you feel forgotten by God, ask yourself, are you really the first person He has ever lost track of?" In other words, you're not the exception, and the results never vary on God's promises. He is always faithful and good and kind in all of His ways. "His way is perfect" (Psalm 18:30). Always. There are no exceptions, because He is the same yesterday, today. and forever.
If you're in need of a divine reversal, you're in luck. The same God who rescued Joseph, David, Ruth, and every other one of His children, will also rescue you.
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