"The Thirsty Deer" (Part 3)

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. (Psalm 42:1-4 NIV).

Did you notice that I added two more verses to our reading from Psalm 42 as we continue the series of The Thirsty Deer? There are several things we may learn about the Psalmist here:

 First, the Psalmist is enduring a trial of some kind. These are not tears of joy, these are tears of pain.
 Second, the Psalmist has made the appeal to God before. This has been a recurring prayer request for the Psalmist.
 Third, the activity of seeking the Lord and crying out to Him has been the primary activity of his life. His time has been occupied with seeking the Lord.
 Finally, the Psalmist continues to cry out to God even when the world tells him he’s crazy to keep trying. The Psalmist doesn’t give up on God!

I’ve made a small reference to the challenges of this year for me. Some of them have been physical. I’ve had more testing this year than any other since they first discovered my hemachromatosis. All of those tests merely confirmed the fact that I do have the disease and yes, it is affecting some of the major organs, like my heart. I loved the last doctor I saw. He was very nice, but after all of the tests he merely said, “Actually your heart is in better shape than I thought it would be in given your disease.” That was very encouraging! Some of our challenges have been financial. Like so many people in our nation we were caught in the downturn and had it not been for the generosity of our family, we would have been in great trouble indeed. Of course, along with these kinds of challenges there is always the devil whispering in your ear, telling you how badly you have made past choices. Sometimes the only hope I have had in overcoming those past regrets has been my stubborn unwillingness to forget the marvelous way God has poured His grace out on me!

But, enough about me; let me ask you, what trial has been going on in your life? Maybe it’s been going for so long that you’ve almost resolved that it will never get any better. Is there something so very painful in your life and yet you just can’t seem to do anything about it? Does it almost seem strange at this point to be continuing to trust God to work out the situation for good? You may just be able to identify with the Psalmist. The Psalmist had been crying out a long time. If the psalmist were living today, I would encourage him to trust Him even more? Yes, trust Him even more! He IS trustworthy!

NOTE: Don’t miss tomorrow’s devotional… I’m going to share with you some of the heart of Grace Restoration Ministries and how that has been God’s answer for me this year. Perhaps it will be a part of your answer as you struggle through the challenges of your life!