Lord God Almighty,
Elijah wanted people to know that You alone are God (1 Kgs. 18). You performed an amazing miracle… and they knew. Your miracles reveal who You are. They all point us to Your greatest miracle, making us new creations in Christ Jesus, all Your grace (2 Cor. 5:17)! Remind us, Lord…
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion (Ps. 103:8 BSB).
Looking back at Your sufficient grace in the past
Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue!
(“Singing of Mercy,” Stocker, J., p.d.)
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Has won my affections, and bound my soul fast!
Thy mercy, in Jesus, exempts me from hell;
Its glories I’ll sing, and its wonders I’ll tell;
’Twas Jesus, my Friend, when he hung on the tree,
Who opened the channel of mercy for me!
Your sufficient grace in our physical and emotional needs
But after this mountaintop spiritual experience You gave him, more threats came. The battles continued. Elijah sank.
Exhausted, afraid, comparing himself with others, insecure, lonely, “I can’t”
“I have had enough! LORD, take my life…” (1 Kgs. 19:4 BSB).
He needed Your shade. Rest. He needed physical sleep. You gave it.
In Your compassionate mercy, You sent an angel. You provided food and water. You knew his physical needs after all that had just happened.
“Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you” (1 Kgs. 19:7 BSB).
He’d been through so much.
You knew.
Your grace was sufficient.
Your Word, sufficient grace for our every need today
After a long wilderness journey, he rested, hiding in a cave, a lonely prophet devastated by Your people abandoning You.
By the evil in this fallen world. Darkness.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14 BSB).
Without thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin soon would reduce me to utter despair…
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me (2 Cor. 12:9 BSB).
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16 BSB).
But, through thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And he that first made me still keeps me alive!
In Your compassionate mercy, You called him out of the cave.
“Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD’s presence” (1 Kgs. 19:11 BSB).
Great Father of mercies, thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of thy crucified Son!
You passed by Him. Where were You?
In “a soft whisper” (1 Kgs. 19:12 BSB).
All praise to the Spirit, whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine!
“What now, Lord?” Moving forward, sufficient grace for tomorrow
Your words?
“Go.”
You instructed Elijah on the “next right thing” to do. You always know those specific details. You kept him moving forward, trusting in Your sufficient grace for whatever “tomorrow” might bring.
Keep us moving forward, praying for Your ALL-sufficient grace in ALL ongoing sufferings, Lord.
Call us out of the dark cave where a “root of bitterness” so easily springs up (Heb. 12:15). Especially in the exhaustion of “I’ve had enough!” You tell us bitterness causes so much trouble.
You’ve already shown us how to move forward. Help us, Lord!
Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I found.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me….
One thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Phil. 3:12-13 BSB)…
Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.
Behold, I am about to DO something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I WILL MAKE a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert (Is. 43:18-19 BSB, emphasis added)!
Moving forward, with hope in eternal things to come, Your sufficient grace fulfilled!
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to GIVE you a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11 BSB, emphasis added).
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up
and GIVE you an inheritance among all who are sanctified (Acts 20:32 BSB, emphasis added).
The door of thy mercy stands open all day,
To the poor and the needy, who knock by the way.
No sinner shall ever be empty sent back,
Who comes seeking mercy for Jesus’s sake.
Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord. Amen!
A playlist gift to pray-sing of our Lord’s grace for tomorrow, helping us trust Him as we move forward
I need these songs. Looking back to see His sufficient grace in every past suffering. Clinging to His sufficient grace in today’s suffering. Singing of His sufficient grace for any suffering tomorrow might bring, moving forward while trusting our gracious, mercifully compassionate Lord who knows our every need… until the day He brings us home.
If these songs would be His gift to you too, to help you move forward as you also suffer, sign up here, and weekly playlist gifts will come to your email with my love and prayers, sister in Christ!
Other resources of Singing Christ’s Hope
To read more of Lauri’s writing, you can use her devotional Bible study lament prayer journals: Praying God’s Blessings in Christ as We Suffer: Scripture Prayers for the Hardest Days, Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering, Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character as We Suffer, or Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering. In the Valleys of God’s Love is written for children aged 3-8, a perfect read for grandparents, parents, and children to share together, preparing them for suffering to come.
0 Comments