Devotional Thought of the Day:

¹   I cry aloud to God; I cry aloud, and he hears me. ² In times of trouble I pray to the Lord; all night long I lift my hands in prayer, but I cannot find comfort. ³  When I think of God, I sigh; when I meditate, I feel discouraged. ⁴ He keeps me awake all night; I am so worried that I cannot speak. ⁵  I think of days gone by and remember years of long ago. ⁶ I spend the night in deep thought; I meditate, and this is what I ask myself: ⁷ “Will the Lord always reject us? Will he never again be pleased with us? ⁸ Has he stopped loving us? Does his promise no longer stand? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has anger taken the place of his compassion?” ¹⁰  Then I said, “What hurts me most is this— that God is no longer powerful.” ¹¹ I will remember your great deeds, LORD; I will recall the wonders you did in the past. ¹²  I will think about all that you have done; I will meditate on all your mighty acts. ¹³  Everything you do, O God, is holy. No god is as great as you.
Psalm 77:1-13 (TEV)

856         If you fix your sight on God and thus know how to keep calm in the face of worries; if you can forget petty things, grudges and envies, you will save a lot of energy, which you need if you are to work effectively in the service of men.

I love (and hate) the honesty of the Scripture, especially Psalms like this one, and most of Jeremiah.

To describe the feeling of knowing God is there, and that He hears you and then to go on and describe the despair and discouragement. When we look at the trials we go through and wonder whether God has rejected us, whether He has stopped loving us, whether anger takes the place of His compassion.

Most of us go through these phases spiritually ( see Dark Night of the Soul for a great example) when our faith is not so much dependence on God and trusting in Him as it is simply a set of doctrines. We even doubt the power of God or at least the application of His power in our life.

The challenge isn’t seeing His power at work, it is seeing Him For if we are trying to see Him at work in our lives, the challenges in our lives will dominate us. The challenges will overwhelm us and create a dissonance between what we think we need, and what we do need. It is from this place, this moment of brokenness, that we again remember He is our savior

But if we can keep our eyes on Him, as He draws us into His kingdom, then because we are looking to Him, we see the work He is doing, the work He has promised us in scripture to do. The kind of miracles that happen simply because we dwell in His presence, and He provides for us.

As we look to Him, we see this, and it is truly amazing.

That is why those moments at the altar, as I am receiving the Lord’s Supper are so incredible. Or as I serve it to His people and I see what is happening to them as they recognize the presence of Christ’s body and blood. (1 Cor 11:29) The same goes for the times of prayer, and the times when someone experiences the love of God in the scripture as something that is theirs. When they realize the resurrection isn’t just “history” but it completely impacts their day, lived in the presence of God.

And then, dwelling in His unexplainable peace, you will find it easier to love and serve those God is entrusting to you. It is this life that is holy, it is this life that is the result of His resurrection, and our being re-born in Him.

Lord Jesus, bless us with eyes that can see You, ears that can hear Your words of love, and hearts that desire you above all else, then walk with us Lord and show us whom we get to minister to…together. AMEN!

Escriva, Josemaria. Furrow (Kindle Locations 3508-3510). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.