The enemy is a jerk.
Woke up feeling sad and defeated today. My heart is heavy for an acquaintance who lost his young adult son a couple of days ago to a drunk driver who should not have been let out of jail. And I made the mistake of reading a whole bunch about the Laken Riley case, which is so disturbing. She was a believer. My heart asked God, "Where was her protection?" I had to stop myself from going down that rabbit hole. My mood was even more challenged by my personal failures of late--mostly poor food choices, slothfulness, and procrastination. ACK---I get so mad at myself!
So I went into my prayer closet to read and pray, and I want to share this part in case it ministers to someone else besides me:
"As we undergo great sifting, with all of its temptations and sorrows, cause us not to turn from You, but rather be found abiding in You."
"We know that the ultimate temptation in the midst of great suffering is to become offended and with offended hearts turn away from God. Lord, guard us from the spirit of offense! HELP US NOT TAKE THE DEVIL'S BAIT! Help us not enter into offense. Rather help us be slow to anger and abounding in love and righteousness. Increase our spiritual discernment during these times."
"Help us remain obedient to Your word as we are sifted."
"In the midst of great suffering, help us not to abandon You, God. As we are taken BEYOND OUR NATURAL BREAKING POINTS, hold us together, Lord. Save our souls. Work Your righteousness in our hearts that finds us faithful to the end. Renew our minds with the precious knowing of Christ as our chief cornerstone."
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Cor 4:8-10)
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)
You know, sometimes these passages can make a person mad. But I didn't write the Bible, God did! These are His words! And really, truly, His Words are the only way we can make sense of anything in this world, in our tragedies, in other people's horror-stories. There is no other comfort but to open our spiritual eyes to see things through His lens.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
THANK YOU GOD for your Word! Thank you for restoring hope every day that we need it!