Waiting waiting waiting! I feel like that is exactly the stage of life I am in! Waiting for quarantine, waiting for the world race, waiting for a new job, waiting to see my friends. I have learned this isn’t a bad place to be but a place I can use to grow!
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Reading this it’s exactly what my heart needed! And I hope you find encouragement in it today as well. The start of this David keeps asking How long and I feel like that’s been my question. How long do we have to stay quarantined, how long until I can see my friends, how long until the world is healthy and isn’t afraid, How long _____? David is so sad and depressed and feels like God isn’t there and he cry’s out in vs. 3 saying Consider and answer me! Which is not two different things but in Hebrew he is repeating the same words! He is being persistent because he feels as if God isn’t listening. And I sit and think how persistent am I really being when calling out to God! Yes God hears every single prayer but how fiercely am I praying. Sometimes I feel like God waits until I am on the edge of my sit squirming like a small child that just can’t wait to be able to open a Christmas present on the morning of Christmas before he answers my prayer. I feel like these desperate prayers have so much power because it shows God how much we care about what he created and what he is doing.
However in the same verse David asked to be Enlightened so he doesn’t become spiritual weak! and I needed that too. My heart is heavy but I am praying God enlightens us to the truth and us to not get caught up in our emotions. I am going to be the first one to tell people to feel there feelings and I feel mine to but some of the best advise I like to tell people is yes you can feel sadness, anger, bitterness, they aren’t wrong to feel but you can not stay in these feelings because they are not fruitful and will start to hurt your heart!
But then David continues to Go on and he declares that he still gives his full trust to God and we are reminded that it’s not our timing but His! Regardless about anything I ask of you if you can’t trust In anything right now stay trusting in God’s loving kindness and mercy! Remember he loves and cares for us.
later in this Psalm David changes his freaking perspective and said My heart Shall rejoice! He didn’t say after he was done being sad, when everything was better, when he was thriving, but within this depression he was in, within the sadness, within his pain he said I DO NOT CARE ANYMORE BECAUSE MY HEART SHALL REJOICE because in the end he knew God had been good to him. And I truly believe God has been good to all of us even if you don’t see it, even if you feel so sad and so lost right now. God is with you and caring for you! I just pray you can see it too! And remember to instead of asking the question of How long maybe we can take some advise from David and start rejoicing within our crazy lives! I believe in every single one of you and know God is going to use you In amazing ways! Keep your heads up and let’s continue to rejoice together even if we are hurting!
