Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Psalm 6:3, “My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord – how long?”

Background

I watched a television show last night where a man was playing his and his wife’s song on the clarinet as he stood alone by her grave. His nurse then approached as he played the last few stanzas, and she offered the comfort that surely his wife heard his lovely playing. He very dryly responded that he doubted it since she had been dead for four years. It was just the sort of comment that fit this emotionally tormented man perfectly, a man who missed his wife so terribly that he had developed anxiety disorders, yet at the same time, whose verbal and social awkwardness led him to bluntly speak about the futility of playing music to his deceased wife. His soul had been greatly troubled for four years. But You, O Lord – how long? I have recently been on the roller coaster ride of joy and despair as I deal with the attitudes and behavior of my children. It has troubled me for over a week now, but You, O Lord – how long? How long, O Lord, will this continue? How long before peace is restored and unrest is resolved?

Application

I’m not the only one who is asking these questions. My troubles are slight and brief compared to what so many others are going through. They, or you, have asked how long of the Lord for a very long time. And the answers may or may not have come. And when others of you eventually ask this of the Lord, the answers may or may not come to you, too. That is the path we chose when we took up our crosses and followed Him. Nobody carries a cross to a party. It only belongs at a crucifixion site. And there is where we can look a little further than at our immediate troubles. There, in faith, we can express our distress and know that He has already been troubled on our behalf. And therefore, He is not troubled now. He knows the answer, and He sees the end. He wants our hope to be in Him, not in the end. So He calls us to lean on Him and endure. But For how long? Let’s start with eternity, and we’ll go from there.

Charge

As we seek Him today, be encouraged that today is not too long for you or for Jesus. Trust in Him and lean on Him when you are tempted to question Him or doubt Him.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words