Leslie Wittenmyer
November 18, 2023
Psalm 40:1-3, New Living Translation
“I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud in the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.”
Sometimes a gentle and loving reminder from our Father is what we need to pick us up from the mire and mud. “I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” (Psalm 40:1-3, NLT)
We are in the world, but not of this world. He promises that we are not alone, that He’s with us. Jesus also told us that life would not always be easy. “I have told you all this, so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials in sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NLT)
In our time of struggle, challenge, or pain, we may cry out, “Why?!” What we need to know, and understand is this, one, there are consequences to our actions. God has given us free will to make our decisions. Will we make them on our own, or with Him? The One who knows all things, and has all our days written in His book of life? Two, we will go through trials and tribulations. It’s part of a maturing/refining process. “So be truly glad. There’s a wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold— know your faith is far more precious than gold. So when you remain strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT)
Up from our ashes, beauty will arise! Christ is coming back to a church without blemish! He has created us in His image. We are affected by our sin nature and hour by hour, minute by minute, day by day, He is making us into the best version of ourselves.
There will be challenging times in our lives where, maybe we feel like giving up, our resources are spent. But I want to encourage us, don’t give up on the hope of glory, our savior, Jesus Christ! He never once gave up on you or me!
There’s a song I found that has beautiful lyrics. It’s called “Come Jesus Come,” by Steven McWhirter. It says this:
Sometimes I fall to my knees and pray
Come, Jesus come let today be the day
Sometimes I feel like I’m gonna break
But I’m holding on to a hope that won’t fade
Come, Jesus come we’ve been waiting so long
For the day you return to heal every hurt and right every wrong
We need you right now come and turn this around
Deep down, I know this world isn’t home
Come, Jesus come
Just as this song says, this world is not our home. “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14, NLT) Our lives are a testimony of His faithfulness, His love, His grace, His forgiveness. When the battle gets hard, cry out to Jesus! He will lift you out of the mud in mire and put you on solid rock. “And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25, NKJV)