When I was a kid, we had a home-made seesaw in our backyard, and my brothers and I, along with friends, would often play on it. The objective was to balance the ends so that you could have an enjoyable up and down experience. However, sometimes the objective was to stay on the ground and keep the other person stuck in the air. You always wanted to be the one safely on the ground, and not the one stranded in the air with no control or means to get down.

Life is like a seesaw. There are two ever-present realities before us—the all-powerful, sovereign God and our overwhelming circumstances. You will notice that in most of the psalms, the psalmist seesaws between the two. He expresses the weight of his circumstances, but he turns to God, sometimes back and forth within a psalm.

When we keep our focus on our all-powerful, sovereign God and put our trust in Him, we are grounded in Him and the security He provides for us. We are safe. When we focus on our circumstances and let them overwhelm us, we get thrown up in the air, and we put ourselves in danger spiritually. When we’re focusing on God and His sovereignty, we come back to safety.

To be honest, life is hard. Relationships can make it hard; health issues, marital issues, financial issues, children issues, job issues, ministry issues. All can make life hard. How do we get through those hard seasons when circumstances are overwhelming? How do we tilt the seesaw toward safety and security in God?

One word: Trust. Trust God in all seasons of life – the delightful ones and the difficult ones. It’s easy to say, but I will be the first to admit, it’s hard to do.

How are you doing on the seesaw of life? Are you dangerously dangling in the air with no stability because you’re focusing on your hard circumstances, or are you securely grounded because you’re trusting God and keeping your eyes on Him?