“Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”
Today’s Text: Psalm 119:49-64 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
It’s not that life is all bad. There are moments of joy and goodness in our lives. And I sincerely hope that everyone—especially everyone that I know, everyone of the 1,200 or so friends on FB (some I don’t even know) and 400 or so followers on IG (I should really grow those), and especially everyone I know and love—I sincerely hope and pray that everyone would enjoy lots and lots of those moments of joy and goodness in their lives.
And yet, even in the midst of the joy and goodness that we experience, there is tragedy, bitterness and heartbreak, loneliness, anxiety, betrayal, and selfishness all around.
It’s not that everyone is 100% evil. Yeah, some people are worse than others, but some people are nicer than others and have some genuine goodness in them. But even with my innocent comment about 1,200 friends on FB—some might think, “Oh, he’s just bragging.” Others might think, “Ha! Just 1,200?” And still, others might think, “He’s still on FB? What a boomer!”
As for me, I may be concerned, subconsciously, that nobody is really reading my blog at all! Although, I don’t think I am. Should I be? Is this blog just about me enjoying the sound of my own voice? I don’t know, and I can’t tell!
Suffering comes in the midst of the bad things that happen in our lives, and the suffering is compounded by our sinful nature—our own sinful nature and the sinful nature of others. And if you think about it, the sinful nature of all of us is accentuated by the suffering we experience.
There are a few people I have met who seem to have the ability (a gift really) to turn whatever bad stuff that they experience into a positive perspective. I try to be that kind of person, and I want to be more like that kind of person. (Is it just jealously and a sense of competitiveness? I don’t know, and I can’t tell!) But being that kind of person really takes wisdom and tact.
Because, every once in a while, I will meet someone who resents that I am trying to put a positive perspective to a bad experience. It seems like they just want to be able to wallow in the mire. (Really? I don’t know, and I can’t tell!) But that’s not a fair statement. Rather, they want the freedom to “process” on their own terms.
And that’s fair. I’ve often had people try to offer me help through a difficult situation. And whatever comfort they try to offer ends up not being so comforting at all. In fact, quite the opposite.
In those moments, what do I do? What do I say? What I want to say is, “I know that you’re just trying to be helpful, but …” Instead, I will just smile and say thank you.
And so, as I’ve grown and (hopefully) matured, I’ve learned not to try to rush in and “fix” people’s hurt on my terms. Most of the time, the best thing that we can do is to just be there and listen and empathize with their struggle—at least, sympathize with their struggle.
But reflecting on how I “process,” I realize that the thing I need most in my suffering is hope. Not a flimsy, temporary, here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of hope. Real, permanent, eternal, guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled hope.
And that’s what the promises of God in the word of God offer to me and to the world. HOPE.
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
— 2 Corinthians 1:20
Father, You are my Hope. You are my Strength. You are my Comfort. You are my Shield and my very great Reward. And so my Hope is You, and my Hope is in You and in Your sure promises. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
