Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. –Psalm 91: 14-15

Whenever I read verses about God’s faithfulness to those who cling to Him, I always find myself feeling completely reassured. Since I “prayed the prayer” and committed my life to Christ way back when, I rest in the knowledge that all the promises contained in Scripture apply to me. He will deliver and protect me because I know His name, and he will rescue me in times of trouble, because I love Him. That’s a pretty nice set-up.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure it’s quite that clean cut. Yes, our salvation is guaranteed to us, so we can always trust that, ultimately, because we have made the decision to follow Christ, God will deliver us. But, salvation is more than that. It’s more than simply resting in the knowledge that God will one day save us. There is another aspect to salvation aside from the future aspect. There is also the present aspect, how our salvation is relevant today.

Philippians 2:12 tells us that we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” This does not mean that we have to earn our salvation, but it does mean that salvation is not merely a decision we made when we were ten. It’s also a decision we make every day. Every day when we wake up, we must once again make the decision to die to ourselves, and to follow Christ. Why? Because salvation is not merely about getting into heaven—it is also about being conformed to Christ, and that is a transformation that begins right now. We must always be actively seeking conformity to Christ. Working out your salvation means turning it into a visible reality through your life. Integrating your salvation into your being so thoroughly that it becomes your daily reality. Your salvation should define every breathe you take, every move you make.

So what does that mean when we read these passages that tell us God will deliver us since we have chosen Him? Well, we can read it on two different levels. We can read it as a reality that has already taken place, and will be fulfilled on Judgment Day when we face God and He declares us free, But we must also read it on the immediate level. Just because we are Christians does not mean life will always be easy, and that tragedies and betrayals will no longer hurt. Instead, it means we must continually run to Him when they do. God promises to comfort those who call on Him, but if we run to others, to material things, or to success when times are hard, then we aren’t living out the reality of our salvation, and we can’t expect God to comfort us.

Examine your daily life, and the circumstances that plague you, even the little things. When someone hurts you, do you run to a friend and slander the person to make yourself feel better? When you feel insecure, do you run to attention from guys to make comfort your self-esteem? If so, then when you read verses like Psalm 91:14-15, don’t be mystified when you don’t feel comforted by God in those difficult times. He’s not comforting you because you’re not calling on Him.

It’s not enough to make a decision one time, and go on with your life. Salvation is a lifestyle that requires every moment of our attention and energy. We must constantly be turning to the Lord in times of trouble, and even when times are good. Only then can we read these passages of encouragement, and rest in the knowledge that God blesses those who call on Him. And by that, He doesn’t mean once at an altar call—He wants every moment of every day.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. –Psalm 86:1

The Psalms are one of the greatest resources that Christians have when it comes to grief, discouragement, and despair. Whenever I’m feeling alone, or betrayed or hopeless, I turn to the Psalms, because there is always one that expresses the very agony I am feeling. Clearly they are the Word of God, because they truly express the groanings of my heart that I can never quite articulate.

However, it is not often that I turn to the Psalms of lament when I am doing well, and when life is good. This fact dawned on me one morning as I began to read Psalm 86. It starts out sounding much like man of the other Psalms of lament—alone and in desperate need of comfort. But this time, the words did not resound quite so clearly with my heart, so I was tempted to flip to another Psalm, one of rejoicing. I thought I should save Psalm 86 for another day when I did feel low. Not today, though.

But right before I flipped the page to find a different Psalm that reflected my blessed state in life, it struck me: the words of the first verse are no more or less true given my feelings. Whether I feel it or not, I am in a constant state of need. It just so happens that when I’m hurting due to the circumstances of my life, I feel that state of need more acutely, but the need never changes. We always need God, we are always helpless without Him. We must always cast ourselves upon His mercy if we at all desire to have true life.

But even more interesting to me is the danger in my initial attitude. The fact that I don’t turn to the Psalms of lament when I am doing well indicates how little I understand my state of need. I live under the illusion that there are times when I am fine on my own. God has become my back-up plan for when things get really bad. We tend to think that only nominal Christians do this sort of thing—turning to God on their death-bed or in times of crisis—but for all intents and purposes, many of us function in the same way. We need only look at our actions when life is good. When things are going our way, do we still come to God with the same desperation that we do in the hard times? I certainly don’t. I’ve bought into the lie that most nominal Christians have bought into—my life is my own, so I don’t need to worry about God except in extreme circumstances.

So before we judge the submarine Christians who only emerge for Easter and Christmas, we need to look at our own lives and seriously ask whether or not we are living the committing the same hypocrisy. We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that we’re not as bad as they are, but in comparison with the holy perfection of God, we suddenly look a lot more similar to the sinners than we do to Him. For this reason, I encourage you to commit Psalm 86:1 to memory. As these words of truth slowly begin to shape your mind and heart, perhaps we will then have a chance at living like we really mean it. Then, and only then, will we look more like disciples than instead of looking like the world.