This is a devotional I shared a year ago, but I thought it was a good reminder that needed repeating.
Psalm 77 I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray! I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.” But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. By your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. When the Red Sea saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled! The sea quaked to its very depths. The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.
“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we are fed. Thank you God for daily bread.” I loved hearing my children recite this well known prayer before meals when they were little, and now my heart delights in hearing my grandson, Jude, bless our meals. It is always a struggle as the little ones begin to learn to pray this little prayer. I heard “lettuce is good” instead of “let us thank Him for our food” many times as Jude first began to bless our meals a couple of years ago. Eventually, he got it right. Now, he speaks boldly as he prays, never missing a word. It’s such a simple little prayer, but many times I think as adults we forget just how great and how good God is.
The psalmist in Psalm 77 seems to think that God has withdrawn from him. He is distressed and down, and he cried out to the Lord. He knew he had to seek God, but he feared that God had forgotten him. But then, he began recognizing the greatness of God. He remembered how mighty and awesome God is, the miracles He performed, the redemption of His people, and the majesty of God. Today we are so busy worrying over this and that. We try to fix things in our own power. We put our faith in ourselves. We struggle. We fall. We see our nation falling. We wonder if God has forgotten us.
Whoa, y’all! This is when we need to really remember the greatness of God. We can do as the Psalmist did and start reflecting on all of the wondrous miracles in the Bible of long ago, but we can also begin reflecting on the day to day miracles and blessings our very good God has given us here and now. Maybe it feels like He left us because we left Him. Have you ever thought of that? We desire our human relationships to work so we work at them. We communicate with the ones we love. We talk to them as much as possible. We stay in touch. To have a relationship with Christ, we have to communicate with Him, talk to Him, and acknowledge His presence, His glory, and His goodness. You wouldn’t have a very good relationship with your spouse if you never talked to him/her or if you only focused on the bad things in life without ever seeing the good. God is always good. He is always great. He never leaves us. He is always there. He is still mighty. He is still on the throne. He is still for us. The God that created the heavens & the earth created you and I because He thought the world needed us.
If you are feeling far removed from Christ, start doing as the Psalmist did. Call out to God. Get up close and personal. Recognize how great God is and has been in your life. I realized a long time ago that I can’t even do one day of this thing called life without God. He is so very good to me!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 