In week one, we learned how the character of the Architect enables us to destroy doubt. Last week, we worked on putting to death those Saturday lies. This week, we are going to unpack what faithfulness in the shadow of the cross looks like. There’s no question that life is hard. We struggle and go through a lot of pain. So how do we do it in a way that accesses Jesus’ resurrection power? How do you fight doubt through these hard times? Stay tuned, that’s what we’ll see this week.
Day 15: When Strength Fails
Scripture: Psalm 73:26: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Many of you know what it’s like to battle with doubt over God’s goodness when you witness evil and wicked people seeming to prosper. It’s easy for a cynicism to creep in, and doubt starts eroding at God’s goodness. We began to wonder why it even matters. Why do we even try? What’s the point? Perhaps we even get to the place where we question whether or not good even wins in the end.
Some of you reading this are already exhausted. You’re not just tired physically. Far more than that, you’re soul‑tired. You’ve prayed, you’ve tried, you’ve held on, and yet life keeps pressing in. And in those moments, you’ve found that doubt doesn’t knock politely and ask to come into your life. It barges in, breaking down the door in the process. You might not even think the kinds of doubt you have are normal kinds of doubt.
You have the kind of doubt that grinds at you when the medical diagnosis is worsening. The kind of doubt that calls you all kinds of names when your job application is rejected again. The kind of doubt that stabs you as your child is walking away from the Lord. And the kind of doubt that never lets you sleep, making you feel like a failure even though you’re trying your best to please the Lord.
Psalm 73 is a gift for us. In this psalm, Asaph doesn’t hide his struggles or his pain. He doesn’t pretend like everything is OK. There’s no “I’m fine” covering up what’s really happening inside.
In this psalm, Asaph spares no words as he describes the pit in which he almost finds himself in. Even though he is able to say that God is truly good in the first verse, he doesn’t get here quickly or easily. Asaph has to win the battle of doubt in his own mind in order to be able to say these words in truth.
And this is where many of us live. We aren’t in outright rebellion. It’s not that we’re in total unbelief. But we feel like we are like Asaph on the edge. We see the giant drop and our hearts are racing. We are tired, confused, and just wondering if God is still good to us. Not to all the people out there, but to us in particular.
We see his fight in verses 3-15. He recognizes that his feet have almost stumbled, and he’s nearly fallen off the edge of the cliff. This was a very close call. As he looks around, he sees the trouble in his own heart. There was a time in which he looked with envy upon those who were evil who seemed to be doing pretty well. All the while he was striving his best to be right with the Lord. These two things didn’t make sense to him. It didn’t seem right that he had to be struggling so much when other people were getting away with it.
How did things change for Asaph? He didn’t get the clarity he needed by scrolling through social media on his phone. He didn’t get the clarity that was necessary by interpreting things through his circumstances. In fact, he wasn’t sure how to even process what he saw well. That is, until he went to the temple. He had to think and pray and ask the Lord to fix his shortsightedness. And the Lord came through. With the Lord’s help, he was able to have the right view of those living in wickedness.
Asaph realized that what sustains him isn’t the fairness of life but the faithfulness of God. It’s the fact that God is with him. It's the fact that God holds his hand. It’s the fact that God guides him. And it’s the fact that God will not abandon him.
Notice that what sustains him is not always what God does, but who God is. God is the one who is continually with him. God is the one who is holding his hand. God is the one who is guiding him. God is able to move him from being envious of the wicked to confessing that God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever.
But here’s where the resurrection shines through the darkness he faces and gives him hope. And it’s the same resurrection power that works in us as well. You see, Asaph is pulled back from the cliff because Jesus would one day step off the cliff for him and onto the cross. The abyss Asaph feared is the abyss Christ descended into to defeat. And not only to defeat, but to declare his triumph over.
The judgment Asaph dreaded is the judgment Christ bore. And the despair Asaph felt is the despair Christ conquered. This is why you can trust God when your strength fails. Not because you are strong, but because Jesus has already faced the deepest darkness and walked out of the tomb alive.
And that matters for your Monday morning. It matters when you’re sitting in a hospital waiting room. It matters when you’re staring at a bank account that doesn't have much in it. It matters when you know that you need to pray but all you can get out is a cry. Some of you are exactly where Asaph was. You’ve done everything you can. You’ve prayed, planned, pushed, and persevered. But it’s not been enough. You are still standing on the edge, feeling like one more piece of bad news is going to send you right over the edge.
Can I ask you to really hear this? To really hear this with your soul? To hear this from the gentleness of the good Shepherd who knows you. He wants you to hear that when your strength fails, His resurrection strength begins. He wants you to hear that your weakness is not the end of the story. He wants you to hear that your slipping feet are held by a risen Savior who does not slip.
I get it, life may not feel fair. But the gospel was never about fairness, it was about grace. And grace means that you don’t have to hold yourself together. You don’t have to manufacture strength or to pretend you’re okay. Why? You have a God who is your portion. You have a Savior who conquered the grave. You have resurrection power holding you when you cannot hold yourself.
So today, if your flesh and your heart are failing, you are in the perfect place to discover what Asaph discovered, that God Himself is your strength, and God Himself is your portion and God Himself is enough.
Pastor Josh
Where do you most often feel the tension Asaph describes—those moments when it seems like others are prospering while you’re struggling?
What “sanctuary moments” has God used in your life to pull you back from the edge of doubt?
How does the resurrection reshape the way you interpret seasons of weakness or exhaustion?
Take ten minutes today to name the specific place where your strength feels like it’s failing and then pray Psalm 73:26 over that exact situation. As you pray, remind your heart that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is holding you, guiding you, and strengthening you right now. Let this be your declaration: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
