“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

No newsflash is necessary for people to know how much I hate cold weather. Much of the chatter from me during winter is about how cold it is, and the countdown to spring. I dislike when winter is my present season. My desire is for the next season to hurry its arrival. Yet, the truth is I cannot hurry the next season! I must learn to live in the season I find myself. I cannot wish away the present season!

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 winter becomes spring. It is not instantaneous. It is still very cold and then “suddenly” there will be a warm day, then back to cold, repeat and repeat. In time, the cold is gone and the warm is present every day. That means there has been a change of season.

As David wrote Psalm 13, he was on the run from King Saul and found himself in the 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. He cried out to 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 will I have financial problems? How long must I continue to pray to become pregnant? 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, the winter of life. Let me be honest enough to tell you that I have experienced the winters of life that have lingered way too long for my liking! I was chatting with a friend recently and my tears began to flow. She reminded me that I was going through a season of “how long?”

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! Until then, His grace is sufficient.

“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Don’t waste your pain. Some of you are immediately thinking, “That is easy for you to say. You do not know what I am going through.”  In most cases I don’t know what readers of this blog are going through, but this I do know: Life is peppered with all kinds of pain, and each of us will be touched by some kind of pain. While it is nice to confess, “Because I am a child of God, I shall live a pain-free life,” that is simply not reality.

I have no plans to preach or pontificate at this point. I simply want to say that pain can help us to become more loving and caring to others in pain. Who can better comfort a widow, than one who has walked that path?  Who can better encourage a person with cancer than one who has walked through a cancer battle? The scripture says it this way, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”  – 2 Corinthians 1:3,4

Therefore:

1. I refuse to waste my pain of child abuse.
2. I refuse to waste my pain of being betrayed.
3. I refuse to waste my pain of having a child with cancer.
4. I refuse to waste my pain of Church hurt and disillusionment.
5. I refuse to waste my pain of miscarriage.
6. I refuse to waste my pain of a tear-stained face as I visit my son’s grave.

While I wish life was pain-free, it is not! Loved ones die, tragedy visits, betrayal comes, but through it all, God is with us. He will bring us through it.  I cannot stop pain, but I can decide to use it to comfort others, to say God will bring you through this.

No, I cannot stop pain, but I refuse to waste it!

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” – Isaiah 61:1 NKJV.

Though I wrote this years ago, I revisited it. I pondered the message both for myself and the Church today.

There was a time when I would circle around the parking lot of a grocery store multiple times, just so I could park as close to the door as possible. What good charismatic hasn’t claimed the best parking space “in the Name of Jesus!” Then, I would get a cart full of groceries, unload them into my car, and leave the cart wherever I could squeeze it.

Over time, stores installed cart return areas. I am one of the people who pushes my cart to the return stall. By doing that, it doesn’t hit someone’s vehicle, doesn’t block a parking spot and makes it much easier for employees to gather the carts. As a result, I rarely park close to the store. Why? The cart returns are never close to the store. I want to be in the best place to return the cart. I am more concerned about the end of my journey than the beginning of the journey.

There is a man in scripture by the name of Esau. His story is found in Genesis 25. Esau is a man who shows us that spiritual blessings can be lost by living for the moment, and he did it all for bowl of stew! Take time to read the story.

Life is full of choices. Every one of us will be offered the opportunity to live for the moment or to live for eternity. It may be an occasion to cheat on your spouse or to make a lot of money in a wicked way. It may be an opportunity to indulge fleshly desires or to become popular in an ungodly manner, or to compromise the truth of scripture. Esau made the foolish decision to take the immediate “payoff” of what he could see, touch, taste, and smell over much greater blessings in the future. Many people still do that today. Their whole lives are focused on what they can get now, and they end up missing the blessings of tomorrow.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11

God does indeed have wonderful plans for His children but be careful about parking in a place because it feels good right now. How will it feel at the end of the journey? I do not want to look back in regret of what could have been, should have been or would have been, if only I had made decisions based on the will of God, instead of a bowl of stew or an easy parking place.

Spiritual blessings can be lost by living for the moment.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Matthew 6:33

Writing a weekly devotional blog can be trying at times. How do the subjects of this blog come about? There are times when events in life present a subject to me, memories bring up an idea, or there are times when I so sense the Spirit of God speaking to my heart.

I love when God speaks to my heart, and I am so excited to sit down and write. The words seem to race from my fingers to the keyboard. Those times are glorious … at least most of the time. There are days when I let God know that perhaps that is not a promising idea for a blog. After all, I know better than God what He wants to say! (Said with great sarcasm.) Today was one of those days!

As I thought about the trials that so many are facing, some of them beyond comprehension, my heart was heavy. As my mind traveled to the conflict in the Middle East, my heart was heavy. It is hard to fathom what those in the line of fire must be feeling. There is so much loss of life, and too often the loss includes the innocent.

Talking with God, I simply shared with Him that my heart is overwhelmed by so many things around me. The burden is heavy for so many. I sensed God saying, “Tell people that I care.” I explained to God, that people expect me to say something a little deeper than that! Again, I sensed God saying, “Tell people that I care.”

So, that is what I shall do. From God’s mouth to your ears, “God cares.”

When the world seems cold and your friends seem few,
There is someone who cares for you;
When you’ve tears in your eyes, your heart bleeds inside,
There is someone who cares for you.

Someone to care, someone to share,
All your troubles like no other can do;
He’ll come down from the skies, brush the tears from your eyes,
You’re His child and He cares for you.

When your disappointments come and you feel so blue,
There is someone who cares for you;
And when you need a friend, a friend till the end,
There is someone who’s a friend to you.

Someone to care, someone to share,
All your troubles like no other can do;
He’ll come down from the skies, brush the tears from your eyes,
You’re His child and He cares for you.

“Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant.” – Psalm 119:76

Before the age of computers and word processors, some of us actually used a pen or pencil to write on paper. In the good old days, I often wrote lists, notes, and reminders on note pads, and I was one who pressed hard when I wrote. I remember writing down a name and address once, tearing off the page, but somehow losing it. Desperately needing that address, I cried; I prayed; I hunted; I panicked, but to no avail. Days later as I sat down at my desk, I picked up my note pad and noticed indentation that resembled writing. With a pencil in hand, I began to lightly color over the words and there was the address appearing before my very eyes! I had forgotten about it and moved on, but the address was there all the time. It just had not been revealed yet.

How often when we pray do we experience the same thing! Life situations present themselves, and we need answers. We cry! We pray! We panic! We wait! Heaven seems to be deaf to our cries. Yet from the moment we prayed, God prepared an answer. He has not forgotten those things for which we have prayed. He has not forgotten our pain. He has not forgotten our sorrow. He has not forgotten our loneliness. He has not forgotten that the rent must be paid. He has not forgotten that which concerns us. God had it on the tablet of his heart the whole time, and just like the words on my note pad, His answer will appear. He will reveal Himself.

Delay and timing do not often make sense to us, but this I know – God’s character can be trusted. Beloved child of God, He has heard your prayers, and the answer is on the way. Just think – this could be the day that it appears before your eyes.

“God will perfect everything that concerns you.” (Psalm 138:8, NKJV)