Enduring Through Remembrance

I was reading today’s daily bible verse (Psalms 77:11-12), and I started thinking more in depth about the importance of meditating on God’s mighty works, as the scripture says.

We all go through times in our lives where we feel like we can barely hold it together. Sometimes, that makes us feel like God has withdrawn from us, but that’s just what the enemy wants us to think. When our minds are troubled, we must seek God through prayer, and sometimes, we must enlist other believers to hold us up in prayer.

As I read Psalms 77, what touched me was the raw honesty of the author’s feelings. Most of us don’t want to admit it, but we can get so immersed in our feelings that we question God’s plan for us or his ability to move in our lives. We think because he isn’t answering right away or isn’t giving us the answers we want, that he doesn’t hear us, and our faith becomes depleted.

Psalms 77:2 says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My sore ran into the night and ceased not:  My soul refused to be comforted.” That last line is so profound. Prior to this, he notes that when he cried out to God, God gave ear to him. He knew God was listening, yet his soul still refused to be comforted. God wants to help us, but sometimes, we won’t let go. We don’t want to turn it all over to God because that means being vulnerable to his will and surrendering our own.

After he explains the depths of his troubles and questions God, we see a shift in perspective. He acknowledges his weakness, but says he is going to remember and meditate on God’s mighty works.

When troubles come, we have to remember the good things God has done for us – to remember our testimony and the testimonies of others. We must look at the many examples in the Bible of how God delivered his chosen people and remind ourselves that he’s still the same God. When we truly surrender to God’s will, we can have peace in the valley because we know it’s his will that is best for our lives.