We packed the car in sunny South Florida before lunchtime and started the long drive to visit Aunt Beth in the mountains. Not long into the drive, I heard a loud voice growling out of a tiny body strapped into the car seat in the rear. “This is taking too l-o-n-g!”
We had driven about 90 minutes of our 13-hour drive. I had to smile. I wished I could transfer my perspective to the unhappy child in my care, but I knew he was not ready to adjust his thinking. Instead, I just turned up the radio to a worship song he enjoyed and suggested, “Why don’t we sing while we wait?” After a few minutes of stubbornly resisting to join in my impromptu praise-a-thon, he relented and let the melody wash away his displeasure. With a smile back on his face, he belted out an off-key, “Thank You, Lord, for saving me.”
I am going to confess that I’ve cried “how long” to God more than once over the last year. I wish I could just get a tiny glimpse of His eternal perspective. Perhaps it would help me understand why He has allowed some really hard things to happen to our family.
Perhaps, like me, you have prayed for God to turn things around in your life, and your worst fears became a reality. You feel like God has strapped you in on a journey you never wanted to take, and you wonder why He has allowed it. Like the Psalmist, you may be consumed with worry and wonder if God even hears your prayers.
Friend, when we walk with God we are never alone—even when we are blinded by our pain. Let’s follow the pattern we find here in Psalm 13 to help us find our way:
“How long, Lᴏʀᴅ will you continue to ignore me?”
First, we take our questions to God. Instead of sulking and staying silent, we can be honest with God about our emotions. He sees our hearts and knows our pain. Only the Father of mercies can truly bring us comfort. So, instead of calling our best friend to vent or binge-watching television to distract us, we can bring our anguish to the throne of God.
“Look at me! Answer me, O Lord my God!”
Then, we ask God for supernatural help. If we try to solve our problems on our own, our pain will just grow deeper. Instead, we need to look to God alone for our answers. Only He can revive our souls and deliver us from our distress. When we realize we can’t “fix it” ourselves, we fall at His feet and pray for the Almighty to intervene on our behalf.
“But I trust in your faithfulness.”
Finally, we remind ourselves what is true. Our circumstances may change, but our God is in control. He is faithful. In every season, we have a reason to rejoice and praise His name because He is a God who delivers. He has saved us from sin and death, and every day He is fighting for us. Our Father God will get the victory and overcome the enemy in the end.
Today, we don’t need to hide how we truly feel from God. He knows us, and we can pour out our hearts and trust that He hears us. His silence is not His absence. We don’t need to be shaken by the schemes of the enemy because God will keep us standing. He will soon give us a new song to sing.
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