"My soul is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord, how long? Psalm 6:3
There is a constant in life that we are all aware of, life will have its share of hurts and pains and sorrows. Whenever the hurt or pain or sorrow come we accept it as part of life, but we also want to know something very important....how long?
I have always thought it was funny that we classify our miserable flu bugs by hours, but it does help us bear the agony to know how long. Of course when it comes to how long, we will always choose the shorter rather than the longer. I don't think anyone if given a choice would select the 24 hour flu over the 12 hour flu.
Through my years of walking with the Lord I have grown in trusting Him, even in the seasons of suffering. There is one area I have struggled a bit in trusting the Lord, and that is in the area of timing. It seems His timing and my timing never seem to line up, and of course He always seems to choose the longer time, while I pray for the shorter.
I believe the key in endurance for us, is not to focus on the how long, but to focus on remaining faithful in the moment. If I focus on the clock or the calendar, counting hours and days, I am sure to lose heart. If my focus is on pleasing the Lord through the hurts, pains, and sorrows, He will give the daily grace and strength to see me through.
In reality our how long in not that long. The Lord requires of us that we are faithful to Him today, and not to worry about tomorrow. So if you are in a season that has you asking how long, the answer is today....you be faithful to the Lord today, and let Him take care of the results.
I Peter 4:19 "Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing."
ReplyDeleteMy first response to trouble is to resist it or test it with prayer. If it does not go away, I figure there might just be something here that I don't understand (what a concept). Then remembering the Lord's teaching of fasting, then two or more asking (my wife is my first go-to prayer warrior), the treatment of my wife may be hindering my prayers? (Hmm, were was that flower shop?) Sometimes when all fails, I remember that Jesus doesn't know how to fail! Whereas I have sought for faith (and I know that pleases Him), I have been remiss in patiencew and love. In these times, I'm finding them.
Thanks, Terry
Stew Hales