What to Do When Everything Goes Wrong

There’s an old cliché: “When it rains it pours.” I’m not a fan of worn-out adages, but statements like this are shared because we can relate to them. Who hasn’t experienced a season of life when one thing after another goes wrong? In those times, it’s natural to feel like the bottom has fallen out.

In Psalm 11, David finds himself in a scenario where the bottom has fallen out. And amid the fallout, he asks the question, “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:3). The text doesn’t reveal what was going on in David’s life, but it was bad enough his friends told him he should “escape to the mountains” (11:1). Whatever the problem was, his friends encouraged David to lay low. But David refused to run and hide. He said, “I have taken refuge in the LORD, How can you say to me, ‘Escape to the mountains like a bird!” (Psa. 11:1).

So, if the answer isn’t to run and hide, what do we do when the bottom falls out? (v.3).

When the bottom falls out, God’s people are called to keep doing the things we’ve always done—abide in Jesus, study the Scriptures, pray, and cultivate a life of worship. We know evil lurks in this world, and countless things are out of our control. We have no control over global pandemics, a crashing economy, the crime rate, crises, famine, politics, or any number of other things that impact our daily living. We can’t control our loved ones’ actions, the choices they make, or any number of things that pertain to family life. But we can control our response when things threaten to derail us. Like David, when the bottom falls out, we can take refuge in the LORD (11:1).

While it’s true that believers can and do experience calamity, the most important things in the believer’s life are unshakeable. It’s important to remember that it’s impossible for a Christian to “lose everything.”

Why?

If we belong to Jesus, the things that matter the most are untouchable. As believers, we are in the grips of God’s hand, and nothing can change that. Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

So when the bottom falls out, it’s important to keep a level head. Is it possible to lose things of value? Yes, absolutely. Will there be times of grief and suffering? Plan on it. Can we lose the things that matter the most? Absolutely not. Even better, our best days are ahead of us, and we can live with a holy expectation of what’s around the corner for us. Why? David wrote, “For the LORD is righteous, he loves righteous deeds. The upright will see his face” (Psa. 11:7).