“O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”
Psalms 13:1 NLT
At times we can feel God has abandoned us to the wolves. Maybe we feel we’re unworthy of His love and protection. Maybe we feel so insignificant to not warrant His notice. Or maybe we feel we did something that made Him hate us, to loathe us like a bloody, coagulated rag.
“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?”
Psalms 13:2 NLT
When we don’t hear God’s answer to us, we get frustrated with the silence. Frustration leads to desperation. Desperation leads to depression. And finally, our anger can ferment to hatred of God as in our helplessness our enemies pick the skin off our flesh.
“Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.”
Psalms 13:3-4 NLT
But instead of that pathway to anger and hatred, which doesn’t resolve anything but make our hearts heavier, choose persistence. Keep calling unto the Lord, consistently calling Him from your loneliness in the wilderness. He is at this moment on His way with Heaven’s armies to find you. He left behind the 99 who didn’t need protection to find you, the one who does. The enemy called satan fights hard to keep you isolated from God, but in our persistence of prayer we can wait for God to rescue us. We wait because we know God is arriving soon.
“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.”
Psalms 13:5-6 NLT
Trust in his love that is relentless. He will battle through the hordes to find you. As he does, make your way to Him through the warring demons. Our enemies may be prowling lions, but our lion is greater. Our lion’s name is the Lion of Judah, the king of Israel, the head of the Church. He will find you and in joy carry you on his shoulders back to safety.
Yes, tribulation and trial will come. But life in Christ isn’t meant to be perpetual pain. The pain will give way to joy in this life and the next. Awaken from your sleep, accept He is coming for you, and rise into a new life.
A contemporary log of fragmentary pleasures 