Lord, You know my frame. When suffering is chronic in my earthly life and I wake up with pain-full, ongoing problems, You know I quickly imagine the worst when I look into the near future. Comfort me to remember Your promised best. Change my thoughts when I only imagine the Read more
Abba Father, You made a most beautiful promise to Your people, offering them hope…six years before Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. You knew they would need it, and You know I need to remember my hope in Christ today. Into this very judgment for their sin, You promised: “I will Read more
Most High and Almighty God, as I pray the words of Psalm 91, I’m abiding in Your protecting shelter today, a cooling shadow in this intense heat. You are my refuge in this storm, a fortress in this battle, and I trust You today. Why? Because You are in supreme Read more
This week’s Christmas carol resonates. It sings of tragedy, tribulation, suffering upon suffering. It sings of the evil wreckage that we all experience in this fallen and broken world that’s groaning under the weight of sin and its effects on everyone. Including believers in Christ. But it also sings of Read more
How I’ve desperately needed to sing daily of our Redeemer’s propitiating work on the cross as I suffer. When I’m under attack, I need to remember that He became sin in my place and completely took all the punishment for sin that I deserve. Jesus paid it all, All to Read more
What is the “new commandment” from Jesus for us? Jesus echoes 2 Kings 23:25, telling us to “turn to the LORD with all,” a holistic, embodied, interconnected turning of our affections, thoughts, and emotions. In the weary wilderness of suffering, our souls long, our emotions thirst, our bodies faint, and our minds Read more
Jesus, turn my eyes to You. My suffering overwhelms, loss and grief profound. My thoughts are only of my needs. They engulf me. You promise to “supply every need” I have, according to our Father’s “riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19 ESV). Today, I need to think of Read more
Lord, Sometimes I can’t even find the words to pray. I’m so weakened and overwhelmed in the wounding that I can barely breathe. Thank You for the lyrics of suffering songwriters who also needed to sing their prayers. Like Fannie Crosby, a blind sister in Christ who sang into her Read more
Good Shepherd, thank You for guiding me through this suffering journey. Psalm 23’s promises are precious to me, for You are indeed leading me in paths of righteousness, giving me needed moments of rest, restoration, and comfort in Your always-good and compassionate presence. You’re leading me through the darkest places Read more
Particularly when our bodies suffer from chronic illness or ongoing fatigue and stress, we can become prone to what Martin Lloyd-Jones describes as “spiritual depression” or joyless unhappiness, a temptation of Satan for a believer. My harp on yonder willow lies, Silent, neglected, and unstrung; My cheerful songs are turned Read more
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