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Hear today's devotional here: http://bit.ly/3lOWxDR
9 Be kind to me, God - I'm in deep, deep trouble again. I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside. 10 My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out, turned my bones to powder. 11 To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me.12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash. 13 The street-talk gossip has me "criminally insane"! Behind locked doors they plot how to ruin me for good. 14 Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God! 15 Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me. 16 Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me. (Psalm 31;9-16 The Message)
A wonderful Thursday be yours, ConCafe Family! I'm praying the blessings of the Lord cover you with peace and joy. May our prayers continue for the needs we have shared with one another. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.
The psalmist takes a prophetic role in writing this psalm. The honesty and brutality of human suffering knows no station nor status; even kings and queens weep from the stresses of life. And while we may sometimes think others have it made, we discover they suffer the same things as us. I've shared how when visiting a huge church with a group interested in learning the how behind their success, my thoughts were that this senior minister must have it made! His first words on his opening talk to us were precisely my thoughts. "You might think I have it made, and that everyone loves me; but my detractors sit on the front row ready for any slipup or any ammunition they may use against me; and my prayer as I walk from my seat to the pulpit is 'Lord, give me a heart to love these people.'" Bam.
Trouble and despair even came into Jesus' heart and soul. His prayer and his weeping in the Garden of Gethesemane revealed the difficulty the Lord knew awaited Him the very next day. Even his "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me." (Mt. 26:39). These words share the passion of Jesus for us; "I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside. My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out, turned my bones to powder. To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by the neighbors." Have you ever felt something close to that? More than likely yes for some, no for others. Yet, this is the passion, the pain, the hurt that Jesus endured. The disciples, His "friends," could not get near to the cross, nor did they have any power to stop what was going on; it may have seemed to Jesus that their horror, and their actions were just like crossing the street to avoid having contact with Him. Even the ones from Sunday's Palm Sunday crowd are thinking that Jesus may have been "criminally insane." And the ones out to ruin Him did meet behind locked doors to plot His demise. Jesus identifies with every tear, every sob we may have, and His presence is that which sustains us, and keeps us. His pain led to power; and His death led to life. And the promises He made to us nourish and sustain us when we feel the weakness of our resistance against the brutality of life. Like Jesus, we turn to the only Source of hope and healing that we have; God Almighty.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of our Lenten Journey; knowing that it was Jesus who bore the weight of the world on His heart; yet that heart was filled with unmoveable love. As Paul would later write, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:29). Re-read the list Paul shared in that passage, and you might not see your hurt or pain listed exactly like he shared it, but you know it's there; more importantly, you know that God is right there with you, even now.
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus, fill us with hope and healing. Remove the doubt and the dread away that we may have towards the brutality of life; let us truly know that You are with us, and You will sustain us. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Serve as a source of healing for someone today!
Receive my blessings of healing and hope,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
