Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word. Psalm 119:27-28 (New International Version)
When you need hope, pray the Psalms. Start reading anywhere and read until you get to one that speaks to your situation, then camp out there for a while.
In the Psalms God has given us a language to pour our hearts out to Him. Take Psalm 13 as an example:
How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me. (NIV)
Notice a couple of things. First, David doesn’t hold back his feelings. He lays it all out on the line. We don’t need to put on a mask before God. God isn’t interested in us being actors.
Notice something else in this Psalm. David doesn’t end it after the fourth verse. Two-thirds of the Psalms are psalms of lament and almost all of them don’t stop with the lament.
Reading the word of God turns our focus back to God. It doesn’t have to be the Psalms. His Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is the tool that enables us to not:
…copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation)
Strengthen yourself in the Lord by reading, praying, meditating and applying the Word of God.
Something very timely I found again. Thank you so much.