BIBLE PASSAGE:
“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You.”
(Psalm 39:7)
MEDITATION:
The storms of life can come crashing down us at times, and if we have no
anchor or safe harbor, everything can seem hopeless. We can go through
a time when we face challenges every day, and we need somewhere to go
in order to find moments of peace and encouragement.
Why do we go through storms and challenges that overwhelm us?
Sometimes they can be the result of bad choices we have made.
However, there are other times when the cause doesn’t seem to
make sense or have any explanation.
We can be skipping along, enjoying life and our fellowship with the
Lord when “Bam!”, we are blindsided by a new problem or challenge
that seemingly comes out of nowhere.
We could….
– have a sudden stressful situation in our job.
– have friends or a spouse who betrayed us.
– suddenly have a debilitating sickness or injury.
– have a wayward child who is making some bad choices.
– experience financial problems.
– sink into a state of sorrow or depression.
– have a loved one who is sick and needs a caretaker.
– feel we are not doing what the Lord has called us to do
(works don’t create salvation, but salvation does create works).
Whatever happens, all believers have hope! We have hope because
we have faith in a loving, caring, merciful, and unchanging God
who is full of grace (grace is giving us what we don’t deserve). He
has promised to be with us in the storm valleys, and in the peaks
of happiness.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or
terrified because of them, for the Lord your God
goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you.”
(Deuteronomy 31:6)
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;
he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid;
do not be discouraged.”
(Deuteronomy 31:8)
“No one will be able to stand against you all the days
of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you;
I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Joshua 1:5)
You may read the verse in Joshua and say,
“God was making that promise to Joshua, and not me”.
But look at the words from the Psalmist: he tells us twice that
the Lord is with him as well. If the Lord was with Joshua and
the Psalmist, then doesn’t it make sense that He will also be
with all who belong to Him, and are part of His family?
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.
(Psalm 118:6-7)
In the book of Hebrews we are given advice about money,
and then reminded of His promise to be with us at all times.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and
be content with what you have, because God has
said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5)
In just these few scriptures, we are reminded that…
– the Lord is with us.
– the Lord provides us with strength and courage.
– the Lord can calm our fears.
– the Lord can help us overcome discouragement.
– the Lord is our helper.
– the Lord will never leave us.
When we think about the awesome God we worship and serve,
it should ‘trigger’ a desire in us to see all people come to Him
and receive salvation!
That is the reason God gave each of us a Spiritual gift
when we were saved; it is a special gift from God for
us to use in serving Him in whatever way He desires;
we are to participate in reaching out to those who are
not members of His family.
All followers of Jesus need to diligently search for, and identify
the Spiritual gift God has given them, and then, they need to
commit to using it consistently as a member of His ‘ministry team’.
Even though using His gift may seem uncomfortable initially,
we know that He will not give us a gift without including all
that we need to use it effectively.
How inspiring it is for us to know that God not only wants to use
us in His earthly ministry, but He also provides what we need to
be effective servants of His. He gives each of us a Spiritual gift
tailor-made for us, and He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us in
navigating a broken world as followers of Jesus.
God knows our strengths and weaknesses, so when we are saved,
He gives us the Holy Spirit to be our encourager, and to give us
confidence, wisdom and guidance as we use our spiritual gifts.
The Psalmist also reminds us of where our refuge can be found.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
(Psalm 118:8-9)
We may trust in others at times, but there is always a risk of being
disappointed, which causes us to lose our trust in them. Some may
lose our trust ‘accidentally’, but sometimes our trust can be lost as
a result of the ‘intentional’ actions of others.
For instance…
We might share something with a ‘trusted friend’ in confidence
that we prefer not to share with anyone else. It is something we
just needed to talk about with a friend. But our friend may have
forgotten about it being confidential when they asked someone
else to pray for us.
However, there are some we considered as trusted friends who are
gossipers and they cannot wait to tell others what we shared with
them in confidence.
We HOPE our friends can be trusted and will not disappoint us,
but we KNOW that we can find refuge in our Lord who never
changes, and will never disappoint us – our Lord is dependable
at all times! What a friend we have in Him!
ACTION:
Are you going through trials right now? Are worries and fears starting
to consume you? Remember the promises in God’s Word – there is a
refuge available for members of His family.
Make every effort to remain in His refuge (good grace) during
good times, so you will already be there during difficult times.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for being my refuge during
difficult times. Thank You for Your promises to be with me
to encourage me and calm my fears. Thank You for guiding
me away from discouragement and depression. Thank You
for being with me during the good times and the bad times.
Thank You for Your promise to never leave me. You are my
hope even when things appear hopeless. I love You and am
so thankful that You love me too! You comfort me with Your
abiding love!”
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