July 29 - Psalm 77:9,11

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;

I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.

Psalm 77:9,11

 

Have things ever seemed so bad that you feel like God has forgotten you? Worse, has it ever seemed as if the Lord turned against you? 

 

Has life ever body slammed you so roughly that you're figuring that God has "slammed the door on his compassion"?

 

Some call this a dark night of the soul. 

 

So what do you do?

 

if you're looking for hope, the key word in verse 11 is "recall." Simplistically, "recall" means to "remember." But I invite you to think of it more deeply than that. "Re-call" means to "call back" -- as in, call back into existence. 

 

We need to put away some things in our past. Some need to be forgotten -- and moved on from. Some need to be forgiven -- releasing yourself as you forgive another. Some need to be released -- once you've been forgiven, quit carrying the guilt. 

 

But one thing needs to be remembered -- God's faithfulness. 

 

As the world rushes at your windshield at a hundred miles an hour -- frightening and overwhelming -- look in the rearview mirror. Recount and recall all the moments of God's past faithfulness. 

 

In fact, that's a good thing to journal. Write down all the ways -- big and small -- that God has been faithful in the past.  And when you struggle pull out that list, look in the rearview mirrors, and recall -- call back into existence, power, hope, and light -- all that God has done for you. 

 

And it will remind you of all that God is doing for you ... even in the midst of darkness. 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who was an older brother

-- meaning, I did more. body-slamming

than getting body slammed