Don’t Sit Under the Table!

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who trusts in Him. Fear the LORD, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing. (Ps. 34:8-9)

Dearest Daughters,

The Scriptures tell us to taste and see that the Lord is good, and that we will be blessed if we trust in Him. From this, we conclude that if we are not blessed, then we have not truly tasted the goodness of the Lord or fully trusted in Him. The promise is that blessing follows trust. But does this mean that everything in our lives will be easy, pleasant, or free from suffering? Certainly not. If that were true, then Paul, David, the disciples, and even Jesus Himself could not have been blessed, for they certainly endured trials, persecution, and even death. So what does this blessing truly mean?

It has everything to do with our angle and our perspective, both toward the goodness of God and toward the trials we suffer. We can be blessed in trials if we are actually sitting at the table of the Lord and eating from His goodness.

Imagine a banquet spread on a table before you—a golden roasted chicken, steaming crusty bread, carrots glistening with butter, a sprig of parsley for beauty, and ears of corn with butter dripping down their sides. Now imagine that every time you came to the table, you crawled underneath it and sat on the floor. You would have a very different perspective about the meal. You would notice the darkness and the shadows, the scratched table legs, the dirty floor and the crumbs. All you would talk about would be the lack, the mess, and what you do not have. Why? Because you chose to live under the table instead of sitting at it.

This is how we so often approach God in our lives.

I remember an incident that Sister Janet shared years ago in a Sunday meeting. We were gathered together worshiping the Lord, and she told about a trial she had gone through where she felt pressed on every side. One morning her husband had asked her, “How are you doing, Janet?” She began her answer, “Well . . . under the circumstances—” and he stopped her immediately.

“Under the circumstances? What are you doing under there?! We’re called to rise above and be overcomers!”

To be an overcomer does not mean the circumstances disappear. It means we stand on top of them, using them as stepping stones forward, upward, and higher.

So how do we end up living under our circumstances instead of over them? One of the primary ways is by focusing on those situations rather than on our Lord. When Peter fixed his eyes on the wind and the waves, he began to sink beneath them. But when he kept his gaze on Jesus, he walked right across his circumstances.

Another Scripture speaks directly to this same reality. The Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.” (Jer. 17:5-6)

What is the most common “man” we trust in? Often, it is not someone else, but the “man” inside our own head. Our own natural reasoning, our own fears, our own fleshly perspective is usually the first thing we lean on. And when we trust in that, Scripture says we will not even recognize the miracles and the goodness of God when they come our way.

It’s like living under the table with the crumbs and in the shadows, where the feast isn’t visible. According to Scripture, that person becomes like a lonely shrub in a dry wasteland rather than a tree planted by streams of water. They miss the refreshment, the fruitfulness, and even the miracles that pass right by them.

However, when we turn our hearts back toward God, when we choose to trust Him rather than our own fearful understanding, our perspective changes. We rise up from under the table, sit in our proper place, and begin to taste His goodness again.

I’ve experienced this many times in my life. While dwelling on everything that feels impossible—how difficult dinner will be, how far behind we are in school, how much a child is struggling—everything becomes heavier and darker. But when I lift my head and look forward at the goal, a beautiful dinner on the table and happy faces around it, the meal becomes a joy. When I see a child grown, able to read and speak articulately, we both begin to walk on the water of our circumstances.

I often see this clearly as a midwife assisting a mother in labor. You must never let a woman sink beneath the stormy waves of her contractions. You keep her eyes fixed on her baby, on her husband, on the one supporting her. When her focus stays forward, she can ride those waves and bring forth new life.

Even in small, ordinary things, perspective shapes our lives. Each morning, we have our children express gratitude. Initially this was only in prayer time, but now we also do it at the table together. I have given them permission to share one thing they are sad or unhappy about, but they must also give thanks to God for whatever they can think of. Over time, gratitude has grown larger in their hearts and their sorrows have grown smaller. Many mornings they now say, “I can’t actually think of anything I’m sad about, Mommy,” even when I remember something they were upset about the day before.

This is the perspective we are called to live in.

Even science affirms that our thoughts shape our bodies. What we dwell on releases hormones that move through every cell. If we continually entertain stress, fear, and anxiety, our bodies are flooded with stress hormones that weaken us and make us more susceptible to illness. But when we fix our minds on hope, gratitude, and love, our bodies are bathed in life-giving “joy hormones” that strengthen us and build resilience.

So, may you walk out on the stormy waves of your circumstances with Jesus filling your vision. Do not live under the table among the crumbs and shadows, but sit at His banquet. Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the one who trusts in Him!

With all my love,

Mom