Today, part of my devotional reading included Psalm 13. This Psalm ends entirely different than it begins. This is how the first four verses go: "How long will You forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day? How long shall my enemy exalt himself over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes [of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness], lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken."
By the end of this Psalm, as you can see, David's outlook on his situation has changed. He went from being completely hopeless to finding hope once again.
During the past month, I found myself feeling like David felt in the first four verses of Psalm 13. I felt so hopeless and saddened in my heart that it felt as if those feelings would last forever. The cry of my heart, although I couldn't put it in words at the time, was, "How long, Lord? How long will it take before I can see light at the end of the tunnel? How long before this feeling of desperation will leave?"
The statement that catches my attention in this chapter is found in verse 3. It says, "...lighten the eyes [of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness]..." David had to stop dwelling on his circumstances and begin beholding God's face in order to see in the pitchlike darkness.
After about three weeks of this constant emotional struggle I was facing, I finally lifted my eyes off of my seemingly hopeless situation and placed them onto God. I began going to Bible studies where I found encouragement and new hope. God filled my life with babysitting jobs, extra hours at work, and He gave me a vision for a ministry. He gave me purpose for my life, and He dealt bountifully with me.
What I had to do to reach this point was to get my mind off of me and my situation and begin focusing on God which in turn focused me on helping other people.
There is a song called "Strangely Dim" that really spoke to my heart in this season of my life where I was so unsure of what God was doing. I 'm a check-off list kind of girl, and when I didn't have another tangible goal in mind for my life, I felt out of control. But the second that I looked up to God (as this song talks about), I found that my cares, worries, and concerns grew strangely dim.
Maybe you've been living in the world of hopelessness, despair, and feeling overwhelmed or unsure about your tomorrows. If so, be encouraged and look up to God. Pray that God will, "...lighten the eyes [of (your) faith to behold (His) face in the pitchlike darkness]..." (Psalm 13:3). As you seek God's face, I can assure you that your circumstances will grow strangely dim.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I believe that there are moments in all of our lives where we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances. At times we feel like we are drowning in a sea of uncertainties, but when we look up to You, God, we find that You're right there, and all of a sudden our worries grow strangely dim. I praise You that You've delivered me from the emotional difficulty I was facing, and I pray that You will help anyone else who is dealing with circumstances that seem to be overtaking them. Help them to fix their eyes on You and find their heart in high spirits once again in Your salvation. In Jesus' Name.
Amen.
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