Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 89:38-45
Ps 89:38-45
38 But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. 39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins. 41 All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle. 44 You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground. 45 You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame. Selah
1 Peter 1:6-7
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Did you ever want to tell the Lord that you know that these trials are for your good but that you have had enough and do not need any more growth now. We all feel overwhelmed at times with things in our lives. We all have those periods where it seems that everything that can go wrong has done so. Life can be hard and it is tough for us at times. But there is good, even in the worst of times.
We need to use the hard times to help others. Whatever the experience we are facing is common to others and they need our help to keep them from giving up on God or on life itself. Some of the best ministries today are the result of what someone faced in their personal lives and wanted to use them to help others.
When Paul told the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands, he was laying down a principle that goes beyond the command. He was saying to use your life experiences for the good of those coming behind you. In many of the trials of my life, it has been those older Christians who showed me and my wife how to endure and how to keep going in faith. This only happens when we learn to see others through eyes of compassion instead of judgment.
O Lord God, I am thankful for all the hard times in my life that made me trust you more than I did before. While none of them are fun or enjoyable at the time, each has proven to show me ways to help others in their distress and trials. Use me to lift up others and share their burdens along the way. As I face an easy life in this country (and I am thankful for it) I know that many are facing persecution for their faith and I ask you to be with them and give them your strength and your peace. Give healing to those taking treatments. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
