Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
But You, O Lord, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
– Psalms 22:19-31
Devotion
There is a depth of intimacy with God that is found through suffering. The relationship between Jesus and The Father is the ultimate example of this, followed by David, Paul, and many others who have been recorded in scripture. We have the same level of intimacy in our relationship with God available to us. It may come through the things that we hope to avoid: struggles, hardships, mistreatment, and trials. These are the very things that bring us closer to God if we have the kind of faith that trusts that God is good and has a plan and a purpose, even when we don’t understand. If we keep our hearts and minds fixed on Christ and allow Him to fill us with His grace, we realize the same hope as Paul n Philippians 3:7-11: ” …that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
The Big Question
How can you recover from the circumstances in your life that cause discouragement? How well do you stay focused on the Lord and allow “the fellowship of His sufferings” to empower you to rise above your circumstances?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what you have learned.