Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalm 102:1-5
Psalm 102:1-5
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. 3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. 4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. 5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
Everyone at some point in their lives feels that all has gone wrong that can go wrong. This may be due to what others are doing to us or it may be because we have made poor choices or it may be due to a host of other reasons such as grief, a break in a relationship or just circumstances beyond our control. Many times we try to determine why these things are happening but that usually gets us nowhere and yields no answers.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do the righteous suffer? Why must the innocent have troubles in their lives? There are at least two fallacies in these questions. None of us is really righteous, good or innocent because we all have sinned against God and we all fall short of his glory. The second fallacy is the assumption that there is a reason behind it. Solomon says that “time and chance overtake us all.”
If there is an obvious reason for our trials, we need to deal with it but otherwise we need not spend our time trying to figure it out. If we have done wrong we need to repent and turn back to God. If we have made poor choices which have led to our trials, we need to learn from our mistakes. We don’t want to go on blindly without being honest with ourselves and with God about our lives or just denying what we have done.
What we can do in every situation when we find suffering in our lives (and we all will at one time or another) is we turn to God, trust him to lead us, protect us and to deliver us from the trial. He has promised to do these for us and he will keep his word. There is no trial too big for him and he will never leave us to fend for ourselves. He will be the light in our darkness and he will be the star in our black night. He is our hope, our shield and our help in time of need.
Heavenly Father, hear me when I call to you and give me relief in my trials. I am so thankful that you are always near and always give your protection to me. When I do wrong, help me see it, admit it and turn from it. Give me wisdom to learn from my mistakes and to grow from enduring trials. Lord, help me not dwell on the troubles in my life but to use the blessings you have showered on me to help others and lift them up from their trials. Thank you for all the things, friends and family you have given me. I pray in the name of Jesus my best friend.
--Robert
