Devotions for Times of Crisis ~ "Why Won't God Fix This?"
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2).
These are the words of King David, a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). Even the great heroes of the Bible gave expression to the frustration that flows from God’s apparent lack of help in times of trouble. Yet they always remembered that their frustration flowed from God’s apparent lack of help; they did not really believe that God was absent from their lives, or that He had handed them over to injustice or evil for good. They always realized that God’s promises were unshakeable and certain. Because He had promised to always be with His people and to always help them, they knew that their present frustrations were the result of human impatience with God’s timing. So David begins Psalm 13 with a cry of lament, but ends it with these words: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:5-6).
God has promised you, one of His cherished children, that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). No matter what you are facing, that promise is sure and certain. So while it may be tempting to think that God has turned a deaf ear to your prayers and is unconcerned about helping you, it might help to entertain the possibility that God immediately set about helping you the very moment that Satan brought this calamity into your life. God works behind the scenes, but He has always rescued His people. Look back through your own life and you’ll see that God has always helped you in the past. Often His help came in unexpected ways, but it always came. St. Peter reminds us of the lengths to which God has gone to help His people:
"For if God …did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment" (2 Peter 2:4-9).
God sent His only Son into this world as one of us to live as a servant and to die for our sin, Because of that, we know that God’s love for us is beyond measure. If God loved us to the point of sacrificing His own Son for us, then why should we doubt His love for us now? And why should we doubt that He who loves us so very much will see us through this minor crisis now? Oh, it doesn’t seem like a minor crisis to us; but in the grand scheme of eternity it is a minor blip on the radar screen. Our biggest problem, from the standpoint of eternity, was our sin that would have separated us from God forever. Yet He overcame that monster of an obstacle through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainly He will see us through this present, temporal crisis. He is a faithful God, and He loves you. He is both willing and able to help, and has been busy and active to turn this calamity into something that will serve your eternal good from the moment it happened. Trust in Him, and wait patiently and trustingly on Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am impatient. I want this crisis to be over now; I want relief from the discomfort and anxiety that it is causing me. My impatience is causing me to doubt your presence, your willingness to help me, and your love for me. Forgive me, Lord, for doubting your promises to me. Strengthen me in faith, and give me the patience and peace needed to make it through this present crisis. Help me to take your promise of help at face value, and to know and trust that you will help me according to your timetable; that you will not let me fall into utter calamity and destruction; that you will see me through this. In your name I pray. Amen.
Exercise:
“Listen to me, …you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” – Isaiah 46:3-4
Read the above passage from Isaiah 46. What promise does God make to you in this passage?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How this promise bring you reassurance during this crisis? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Devotions for Times of Crisis ~ "Why Won't God Fix This?"
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2).
These are the words of King David, a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). Even the great heroes of the Bible gave expression to the frustration that flows from God’s apparent lack of help in times of trouble. Yet they always remembered that their frustration flowed from God’s apparent lack of help; they did not really believe that God was absent from their lives, or that He had handed them over to injustice or evil for good. They always realized that God’s promises were unshakeable and certain. Because He had promised to always be with His people and to always help them, they knew that their present frustrations were the result of human impatience with God’s timing. So David begins Psalm 13 with a cry of lament, but ends it with these words: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:5-6).
God has promised you, one of His cherished children, that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). No matter what you are facing, that promise is sure and certain. So while it may be tempting to think that God has turned a deaf ear to your prayers and is unconcerned about helping you, it might help to entertain the possibility that God immediately set about helping you the very moment that Satan brought this calamity into your life. God works behind the scenes, but He has always rescued His people. Look back through your own life and you’ll see that God has always helped you in the past. Often His help came in unexpected ways, but it always came. St. Peter reminds us of the lengths to which God has gone to help His people:
"For if God …did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment" (2 Peter 2:4-9).
God sent His only Son into this world as one of us to live as a servant and to die for our sin, Because of that, we know that God’s love for us is beyond measure. If God loved us to the point of sacrificing His own Son for us, then why should we doubt His love for us now? And why should we doubt that He who loves us so very much will see us through this minor crisis now? Oh, it doesn’t seem like a minor crisis to us; but in the grand scheme of eternity it is a minor blip on the radar screen. Our biggest problem, from the standpoint of eternity, was our sin that would have separated us from God forever. Yet He overcame that monster of an obstacle through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainly He will see us through this present, temporal crisis. He is a faithful God, and He loves you. He is both willing and able to help, and has been busy and active to turn this calamity into something that will serve your eternal good from the moment it happened. Trust in Him, and wait patiently and trustingly on Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am impatient. I want this crisis to be over now; I want relief from the discomfort and anxiety that it is causing me. My impatience is causing me to doubt your presence, your willingness to help me, and your love for me. Forgive me, Lord, for doubting your promises to me. Strengthen me in faith, and give me the patience and peace needed to make it through this present crisis. Help me to take your promise of help at face value, and to know and trust that you will help me according to your timetable; that you will not let me fall into utter calamity and destruction; that you will see me through this. In your name I pray. Amen.
Exercise:
“Listen to me, …you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” – Isaiah 46:3-4
Read the above passage from Isaiah 46. What promise does God make to you in this passage?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How this promise bring you reassurance during this crisis? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________