“Help, GOD—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help!” (Psalm 130:1, The Message Version).
If you feel like the bottom has fallen out, still there is hope, which means, of course, for all conditions less than “bottom” there is also hope.
All of us have a reading on the “problem-ometer,” some days its higher and other days lower, but whatever your relative tough spot may be, the rawness of your place contains rich nutrients to enrich and fortify your life and especially your relationship with the Lord.
Instead of just fixating only on “escape,” (though it is fine to seek the rescue of the Lord because He is a deliverer) you can maximize the benefits of your current situation by taking the opportunity that is yours right now to do something constructive.
Rather than fretting, brooding, impatiently drumming your fingers or being generally irritable, which are ineffective options, you can take the time to register your praise and thanksgiving on high and reorient your faith to dependence upon His living presence with you right where you are. It’s simply the best option.
This isn’t new, but it is true. What is always most important in spiritual matters is not what we know, but what we put into practice. The house built on the rock and withstood the storm was constructed by action. The one built on the sand and was swept away was constructed only of hearing. As hearing the alarm is not the same as getting out of bed, so thinking about praise is not the same as doing it.
And, just in case you need some praise “starter logs” for your fire, feel free to borrow any or all of mine from yesterday:
You are the One for whom nothing is too difficult.
You are the One who called me into fellowship with You.
You are the One who fills our hearts with greater joy.
You are the One who always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus.
You are the One who turns defeat into victory, and every evil intention into good results.
Though it feels like death and looks like devastation, the Lord did not bring you where you are to die but to more fully live. Reach out and take hold of life. Opt up, not out!
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