Vol 2 No 18 THEO'S DEVOS 050808

How long?

Psalm 13 1 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don't let my enemies gloat, saying, "We have defeated him!"
Don't let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he has been so good to me.

If I were a betting man, and I am not simply because if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all, I would bet that someone reading these devotionals is wondering if God is even listening or paying any attention to what is happening in their life. If you feel that way, or have ever felt that way you are in very good company. King David felt like that and wasn't afraid to admit it. In fact our verses today lay out his cry forever in print. It has been my experience that some, if not most, Christians are afraid to admit that they wrestle with God. Life doesn't always come packaged in a nice little box with fancy paper and bows. It sometimes flies at you like a freight train and you can feel as though you have just got run over. Battered and beaten it can seem as though there were no God or, if there is one, He must be sitting on His hands somewhere.

David has some harsh words here. He does not seem to happy with God in the first 4 verses. He is laying out his raw feelings and is not afraid to speak of them to his God. And these are not spoken because of something that happened in a moment. Whatever is heavy on his heart has been going on for many days, perhaps months. We are not told the duration but the verses indicate a sizable length of time. During those days it was not obvious that God cared much about what David was suffering.

Have you ever felt that way? Are you in that frame of mind right now? If so, you are not alone. Most Christians encounter times when the testing that they are put through goes on for quite some time. It not only can be scary it most certainly is. I mean seriously scary as though there will be no help. Where is God at a time like this? Right where He always is. As close to you as He can possibly be. Oh, you can't see Him, or feel Him necessarily, but He is there. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you and He will never go back on His word.

Verses 4 and 5 are tremendous statements of faith. They exhibit the kind of faith that God is looking for in us. Faith that exercises itself not just when things are going well but when it is the darkest part of your life. When nothing is going right. When it appears as though there were no God and that you are totally alone in the world. It is at that time when faith is the most important thing you will ever demonstrate. God has blessed us so much and there are those times when it is obvious that He is there and that He does love us. Those times are designed to give us the memories we need in order to place our faith in God when it is not so obvious that He is there and cares.


By exercising faith in the most bleak of time something supernatural can occur. We can find the strength to endure any hardship. God, who is faithful, will sustain us and take us through any trial even if it were to end in our death which it will someday. I trust that you will take heart from the words of King David and reach out in faith to the God who is there. Don't let your doubts kill the one thing that has the power to lift you up under any circumstance. In due course you will discover that God was there all the time. He never went away and never left your side. He just allowed you to experience life and to have the opportunity to allow Him to work on your behalf.

May He reveal Himself to you in some way today. Look for him in a flower or a star. Feel Him in a laugh or a memory. Know that there are many of us who pray for you and wish you the best.
If you think of it would you be kind enough to pray for a good friend of mine and a Theo's Devos subscriber, Dwight Wildermuth as he wrestles with cancer. He and his wife Joanne can use all the prayer that they can get right not. Ask God to reveal Himself to Dwight and Joanne and say Yes to their prayers. Thanks

Theo