Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 88:6-10
Ps 88:6-10
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah 8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah
1 Peter 2:20-24
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
The story is told of a preacher in a small country church many years ago who always started the worship service with a prayer of thanksgiving. One day it had snowed so much that only a handful of people had been able to show up only to be greeted by a cold building. They had braved the weather in their horse drawn wagons. They waited with anticipation to see what he would be thankful for today! He began his usual opening prayer and said: “We thank you Lord that things are not as bad as they might have been.” It can always be worse.
The moral of the story is that there is always something for which we can be thankful if we look for it. Things may not be what we wanted or what we think is best but we can rejoice in knowing that God is in charge and he does know what is best. We may be suffering but God has his limits for us and will rescue us in his time and in his way. We may be grieving but God gives eternal life.
Most of us, most of the time have every reason to rejoice in thanksgiving and to praise the Lord. We live in a land of abundance with friends around us. When we face trials, we have others to help us carry our load and encourage us. Even if we don’t have these, we have the Son of God for a brother who is always with us. We can always have his peace in our hearts and minds.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love for me. Thank you for giving me more things in this life than I ever dreamed possible. Thank you for a loving family and so many caring friends. Thank you for the opportunities you give me to serve you by serving others. I am so thankful to you for allowing me to be forgiven and to be your child with a promise of living with you in eternity. Please be with those who face persecution for serving you. Be with those who are suffering in drought areas because of a lack of food. Comfort the broken. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
