Most Understanding Lord, throughout time people have experienced affliction and felt the ravages of hopelessness. Their chances for happiness and fulfillment are bleak and elusive. In times of distress, they feel alone and far from You. Their life is besieged with bitterness and failure. They are engulfed in darkness and the walls of their life seem to be closing in on them. They try to cry out but the words will not come forth. Their route of escape is blocked by boulders of fear and worry. Evil forces lurk in hiding places all around them waiting for the perfect moment to pounce and destroy their will to go on. They became targets for their enemies to aim their arrows at their hearts to discourage them. They become laughingstocks among their peers because nothing seemed to be going right. They can find no peace and prosperity has abandoned them. Their hope has faded like a deflated balloon.
What we must all come to understand is that no obstacle is bigger than You. For Your love is everlasting and Your compassion is always near. Each day brings a new hope and requires patiently waiting for You to come. We must cling to the belief that You will respond whenever Your help is requested. Nothing can overcome Your steadfast love and abundant mercy to separate us from You. We need to act on Your promise to forgive our sins if we confess and repent them. Reality points out that Your punishment follows our disobedience, but You always respond to a repentant heart. We must always trust in Your faithfulness to help us persevere through struggles we are facing. To live up to Your expectations, we must be willing to submit to Your guidance and be open to what You are teaching us. To overcome our circumstances, we should seek what You want us to do and then do it. Only then can we truly be free.
We can all rejoice in the knowledge that You will never cast us aside or let us drift away from You. Because of our sins, we will reap Your punishment for a time but we know Your desire is to show us compassion and freely give us the benefits of belonging to You. What You ask is to examine our ways to see if they produce good or evil. If we do, we can rest assured that when we turn to You for help, You will be there. You help us by removing fear and worry from our pathway. No matter what we face, You take up our case to defend me. To become successful, we must learn from the lessons You take us through and be willing to make the changes You show us we need to make. Rather than seeking to please ourselves, we must seek to achieve the kinds of behaviors that please You. When we can do this, our circumstances will fade away while You grow in stature. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Lamentations 3:24-26 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait on Him.” The Lord is good to those who place their hope in Him; it is good to wait patiently for the redemption of the Lord.