“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?” –  Psalm 13:1,2

Those of us who live in the southern part of the United States know what hot weather is!   The heat and humidity can be brutal!  Much of the chatter during the summer is about how hot it is.  One will find no shortage of complaints about the season, and wishes for the next season to hurry its arrival.  No matter how much we try to wish it away or long for the next season, we must learn to live victoriously in the present, until the new season arrives.

God has been reminding me that life has seasons, and that at some point, one season must give way to the next.  Think of how summer becomes fall.  It’s still very hot and then “suddenly” there will be cool crisp air one morning, then back to hot, repeat and repeat.   In time the hot is gone and the cool is present every day. There has been a change of season.

As David wrote Psalm 13, he was on the run from King Saul and found himself in a hard place of losing hope. He was in dire need of encouragement and strength.  Words of anguish filled his heart and then came forth as words from his mouth, as he cried out to the God, “How long?”

Are you living in the unbearable days of “How long?”  How long will I be unemployed? How long will my marriage be like this? How long must I continue to pray to have a child?  How long will my child be a prodigal?  How long will I live with this life-threatening diagnosis? How long will I be lonely? How long will my family continue to hurt me?  Our stay in “How long?” can seem “very long.”

You might be in a season that is difficult.  I call it the winter of life.  May I be honest enough to tell you that I have never experienced the winter of life like I have for the past year and a half.  While I will not enumerate everything, it has been a cold winter season for my family.   It has been the season of “How long, Lord?”  in so many ways.  How thankful I am that the words of David can become my words to God.  I can bring my pain to Him.  It strengthens my faith to know that He will bring me through the season of “How long?”

Don’t give up, child of God.  He knows where you are and what the cry of your heart is!  A change of season will come!