Monday Reading: Psalm 126:4-6
Key Verse: Psalm 126:5
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Devotion:
It may be a small thing for us to look at the life of the Israelites and see that they were in captivity much of their history but it is quite another thing to get yourself out of captivity. We see so many times in earth’s history when the captives tried and failed to lift themselves up from the miry world of living in captivity; but each time that the people lifted up their earnest prayers to God, they were answered. And that is where the difference really is, not in the fact that we can do things if we really put our minds to it, but that when we put our hearts into our prayers, God take special note!
When we pray in earnest or seek the Lord with our whole heart then we will find that He is not only here but that He has already answered our prayers. It does not mean that we will never find ourselves in times when we feel down nor does it mean that we will never have any more troubles ahead but what it does mean is that our Comforter will always be with us. He will be with us when we do go down into places we do not want to be; He may well want us to go through that to learn that He is our special Comforter – but He will never leave us alone whilst we do lean on Him.
When we are told that we will be blessed beyond that which we can imagine it is not that we will never have rough times ahead but that when the blessing does come we will know that it can only come from God. We still live in a world where we are going to be surrounded by horrible things at times but just knowing deep in our hearts that God is the one looking out for us means that we can live with faith in His promises! If we are not willing to go through the rough times depending on Him then how will we know that His arms are around us? If we do not want to go where we fear then how will we know that we do not need to fear because He is with us? Walking with Christ means that we must go through things that He will allow in our lives because it is those things that He is using to build us up so that we may better serve Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find yourself struggling at times?
How much do you depend on God?
