We landed on Friday, Bible Challenge Readers! I hope you’ll find a minute to check in and know that I am praying for you today.
Yesterday I received an email from a dear one whose heart is hurting so.
Her struggles are common to many of us.
Her pain is frequently born by everyday world-weary travelers.
At times of this nature, I don’t feel that my words can carry enough weight to relieve the soul of such heaviness. My human attempts that will comfort and ease her sorrow are frail and frugal at best. And so tonight as I write, I pray for her. And I pray for you, many of my readers who are enduring heartache and sorrow.
Lord Jesus,
Our souls are weary.
Our burdens heavy.
There is not a time when we don’t need You.
We ask for your grace- to relieve the pain.
We beg for your mercy- to extend beyond our reach.
We cling to your promises- with all we can muster.
We praise You for the clay You shape…
Into the beautiful sculpture
That reveals Your Glory.
Amen.
rachelwojo.com
Today would be my Dad’s birthday. Mine is right before his. This is a picture of us celebrating together a few years ago. He’s been gone now for about a year and a half. It sure doesn’t seem like that long, but at the same time, it feels like forever since I’ve seen him. I miss him often, but especially today.
I don’t understand why God allowed him to die. I don’t understand how taking him was a better plan than doing a miracle of healing. I still struggle with that. Honestly, there is only one way I know to deal with that kind of pain.
This morning, with a heavy heart, I prayed a version of the same prayer that I pray every time I feel a little overwhelmed by the grief.
“Father, God,
I don’t understand your ways. I hurt and I miss my dad terribly, but I’m choosing to trust you in the midst of the hurt. I know you are good. I know you are love. I know that you see the beginning and the end and that your plans are greater than my own. I don’t understand why God, but I understand who you are. Help me to trust fully in your character and in who you are in spite of how I feel. Fill my hurting heart with peace.
Amen.”
That prayer gets me through the things I can’t understand and the things that aren’t easy. I’m hoping it can help someone else today.
Love and blessings,
Bobbie
bobbieschae.wordpress.com
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah Psalm 62:5-8
Heavenly Father, like me, many of your children begin this day sitting in hard news—news which makes our hearts hurt badly. The stewardship of a hurting heart is even more important than the stewardship of the money you entrust to us, for from our hearts flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23). The same spring can carry life and death—nutrients and contaminants. What is in our hearts will flow from our hearts… through our thoughts, words and choices.
A hurting heart will look for relief somewhere, so, we pour out our hearts to you, dear Father. For you are a haven of rest, the source of all hope, the rock of our salvation and a refuge of grace. We come to you right now, certain of your welcome and desperate for your care.
Father, in the coming hours, center and settle our hearts. The good news of the gospel must be more compelling than the painful news of the day. Hard news will either harden us before men or humble us before you. By faith, we choose to humble ourselves before you.
Help us to do much more gospel-ing today than gossiping; much more praying than presuming; much more weeping than wondering; much more loving than launching; much more care-giving than detail-seeking. In Christ, you have called us to be ambassadors of reconciliation. In our pain, don’t let us choose to be agents of division.
We pray for friends who are hurting. Bring the healing balm of the gospel. We pray for friends who are angry. Bring the calming power of your Spirit. We pray for friends who want to hurt those who have hurt others. May they revoke revenge and run to Jesus. We pray for friends who only see their sin and are filled with condemning guilt. May they clearly see the cross and be filled with gospel hope.
Father, we pray for those who are more zealous to be right than Christ-like. Arrest them in their way, before they do more damage to others. We pray for those who need to come into the light. Free them from their darkness, before they do more damage to themselves.
Please, Father, for the glory of Jesus, write stories of redemption from the ink of this hard news. We have never longed more for the Day when Jesus returns to finish making all things new. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
www.thegospelcoalition.org
