This week, Louisiana experienced historic flooding. People have lost everything. Families have lost homes. As of today, 13 people have died as a result of this flooding.
Although this event may be tragic, it is not surprising. This world is a broken place, and we are a broken people. Suffering is a part of life.
This past Sunday, we caught a glimpse of David’s heart as he prays in the midst of his suffering in Psalm 13. He accuses God of forgetting him and hiding from him. He is at the end of his rope of faith. The darkness of despair is closing in.
Yet, even in the midst of hardship, he still prays to God. That’s what God wants from us as His people in the midst of our broken lives. He desires for us to come to Him, even if we are almost at the point of resenting Him.
Why? It’s because the Lord works through our prayers to bring us out of fear into faith. He brings us out of despair into deliverance.
He may not deliver us from our circumstances, but He will deliver us from ourselves. David is very close to entering into the dark places of sin and bitterness. Yet, in God’s goodness, David is brought into the light of God’s grace.
Through his prayer, David is brought face-to-face with God. He is reminded of who God is. And as a result, he is reminded of who he is. He is a man loved by God before he is a man defined by his suffering.
How can he do this? It’s because he hopes in the promises of God which are fulfilled in Christ. Where do we see the greatest picture of suffering meet the greatest picture of God’s love? It is on the cross.
Christ was forsaken by God so that we may never be forgotten. God turned His face away from Christ on the cross so that He will never hide His face from us. Christ slept the sleep of death so that we may be awake to the newness of life.
Will our suffering go away completely? No. Suffering will always be with us on this side of eternity. But we can never say that God has abandoned us. We can never say that God does not love us. Why? It’s because we see the cross, and in the cross, we see our hope and delight.
Join us this Sunday as we will worship and go through Psalm 16 together. If you have time tomorrow, join us for Friday Night Studies as we are going through the book of Romans together.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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