Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 102:1-7
Ps 102:1-7
Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
Matt 26:36-38
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
There are times in life that all are filled with sorrow, and we are troubled. It is not wrong to be overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death. This describes Jesus as he faced the end of his life on earth, knowing what he was about to have to endure. But we also see in Jesus how we are to act and react to these feelings that come to us. We are to pray. He fell on his face and asked God to help him, but he was willing to accept the will of God. He entrusted himself to the Father.
It is easy for someone who is healthy, young, vibrant and full of life to tell those who are older, or those who facing some grave illness, or other issues that overwhelm us, how they are to just “trust God and don’t worry”. While we are not to be anxious about anything and we are to pray about everything, it is natural for us to have a certain amount of fear and to feel some anxiety. No matter how much we trust God, no matter how deep our faith, we have never been this way before and the unknown does produce a degree of anxiety in us. This is not wrong.
But also notice that after praying for three hours, Jesus came back to his disciples and told them it was time to get up and be going. He had been in anguish, but an angel came and strengthened him. God will give us strength to endure whatever we face. It may be an angel, or it may be the power that comes from his Spirit that lives in us, or it may another way (that is up to him), but he will be with us.
O Lord God, there have been times in my life that I faced the real possibility that my life was coming to an end. There have been times that I didn’t know if my wife would live through the night. I have pleaded with you to save my child, but it was not your will. Give me wisdom to use each of these experiences to help someone who is struggling today so they will not give up trusting you. Let them feel and know your peace as you hold their hand. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
