November 2, 2022 - Psalms 13:1-6

“O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.” Psalms 13:1-6 NLT

Lord, I know we have all been through seasons when we feel like you are distant. Times when we feel like you have forgotten us. The key word in those sentences is “feel”. Lord, our emotions love to lie to us. We can’t make decisions based solely on them. Please help us remember that truth is truth, even when our emotions tell us differently. You have promised us that you would never leave us or forsake us, so that is the truth on which we must stand. I think of a child learning to walk, they will never learn if the parent doesn’t let go and step back. But the parent is right there ready to catch them if needed. God, even when we don’t feel you, you are still right there. You are just allowing us to learn to walk in a greater capacity.

Jesus, when we find ourselves in those dark places and we don’t feel that you are near, we have the choice on how we react. We don’t want to be bitter or become angry with you. Please, help us choose to make the most of the situations that we find ourselves in. Help us turn them over to you and trust you to help us walk through them. Help us stand on your truth that regardless of how we feel, you are there with us. Help us, like David did in this psalm, speak truth over ourselves and choose to rejoice in your faithfulness even when we don’t feel like it. You are good to us.

In Jesus name, amen.