Day 4: Put your hope in God
“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?” (Job 6:11).
God of mercy, God of grace, in You alone we find rest and refuge, shelter from the storms of life. You are our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas (Psalm 65:5).
You never leave us or forsake us, even when the troubles of life so assail us that we become overwhelmed in the consuming bleakness the prophet Jeremiah describes:
I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me (Lamentations 3:17-20).
But, loving Father, You have shown us from the lives of those in the Scriptures who have gone down to the pit of despair, that You hear us even when light, and logic, and balance desert us in the fog of pain and distress—when hopelessness gives rise to deceptive emotions and rash words like Job's:
“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose His hand and cut off my life! (Job 6:8-9).
Job thought he had no strength, no prospects no hope (Job 6:11). But in Your mercy, You restored him to health and soundness—with an outlook of gratitude and submission—built on a new understanding of the good and perfect God who knows all things, plans all things, orders all things:
“I know that You can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted… My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2, -6).
Jeremiah too, moved from the bog of bitterness and gall into a posture of hope as he reflected on Your mercies, Your compassions: Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness... The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him...” (Lamentations 3:21-23, 25).
You see our pain, O Lord, care about our distress. You have given us Your assurance that The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10).
So when troubles arise, when turmoil mounts, when pain persists, teach us to wait, to hope, to trust. Remind us that It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lamentations 3:26).
Teach us to surrender our mind, will, and emotions to You as we pray the prayer of David, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5).
Comments