Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 54:1-7
Ps 54:1-7
Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life--men without regard for God. Selah Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them. I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
2 Cor 12:8-10
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Just when everything is going our way, the whole world falls in on us. It may be an accident and we get a call from the hospital. That routine visit to the doctor turns out to be that dreaded diagnosis. Minor surgery of a loved one ends when they do not wake up. The boss says we are downsizing and our whole career is gone. It seems there are more ways for bad things to happen than we can count and this does not take into account those who live in hunger, pain, constant abuse, or live in daily fear of their lives. Why me? Life is not fair! How could this be? God??
No matter what we face, no matter who opposes us, no matter what is taken from us, we can turn to God and we can find comfort, peace, and solace in him. Even when it seems that God is not hearing us or when we do not see his answer, he is working for our good if we love him. Faith is seeing the unseen answer from him.
Paul learned a valuable lesson, which many of us have learned as well. It is when we hit the bottom with no light, no where to go, no end in sight, it is then that God reaches down his hand and picks us up. He gives strength to us when we give up on our strength and trust him instead. When we are weak, then we are strong.
O Lord God, what a joy to know Jesus as my Lord, as my Savior, and as my daily friend and companion. I need wisdom from above every day of my life. When I have a success, it is easy to take the credit for myself instead of giving thanks to you and giving you the glory. Help me remember that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Give me strength, self-control, and the needed motivation to accomplish what you want me to do today. Be with your people who face drought and civil unrest, and even persecution. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
