Hope in the Midst of Darkness

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God…I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:1,3,5,6

Every believer has times in life where it seems God is silent and distant. This might occur during a family tragedy or during times of struggle. This might occur in the face of illness or depression. We might experience this emotion for no reason at all, but it will be no less impactful. Simply put, there are times that we will want to pray with David, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

The challenge in these times is to remind ourselves that our emotions cannot be trusted. They are as fickle as a weed blown in the wind – leaning this way one moment and the other a moment later. It is important to remind ourselves, during such storms of emotion, of what is fact. This is exactly what we see David do at the end of Psalm 13, “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” Notice the resolve in that statement. Regardless of how he feels, David says he WILL sing to the Lord.

Please do not think that I am professing some sort of “name it, claim it” theology. What I am suggesting is that we rest on the truth of scripture and not on our ever-changing emotions. We must build our lives upon the solid truths that we find in scripture. We must remember that God will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We must trust that our Lord is sovereign and has a plan for our lives (Jer. 29:11). We must remember that the way God brings about those plans in our lives will not be the way we would approach it (Isa. 55:8). As we rest on these truths, we must ask ourselves – will I trust in the Lord to do it His way, or will in demand that He do it my way (Prov. 3:5)?

God is moving and working to bring about a desirable outcome in your life – His desired outcome, not yours. While we cannot understand it, sometimes the path leads us through valleys and difficult places. However, we can trust that God is with us. We will never find ourselves in a place where He has forsaken us. While we might want to cry out – Where are you? – we must remember His promises. that He will not leave us and He will not leave us at the mercy of our circumstances. God is moving and working, regardless of our circumstances.