Reflections on Waiting on God

God understands our pain. It is good to share your heart with Him. Tell Him how you feel, and what you need. He is a friend to us, and is ready to listen to us.

Lord, how long will you keep me this way?  I am desperate for breakthrough. My heart has many desires that have gone unfulfilled. Lord, I have waited for you, let me not be ashamed for waiting on you.

Do you hear me Lord? Are you there? Don’t you see how my enemies have taunted me? I have seen my desires upon my enemies. Grief has struck me like a tidal wave, and my eyes have grown tired from crying. My heart aches for your promises to be fulfilled in my life. I am desperate for your touch. Lord, how much longer will you keep me this way?

God, I hurt so deeply at times, and feel misunderstood. I have been rejected by family and friends. Why are you so afar from me? Why has your presence left me? What have I done Lord, just show me so that I can make this right. Who on earth can I run to but you Lord?

Can you make this pain stop? Can you restore me God? Hope deferred makes the heart sick, God my heart is sick. My hope has vanished like the night air. I don’t have the strength nor the faith to even pick myself up again, but I know you can Lord. I believe you can make these dry bones live again.

Lord, have mercy on me. I have grown weary from the continued trials and testing of my faith. I have felt like Job at times, and have wondered will you restore the things that have been taken from me? I want to believe that I am waiting for restoration like Job and Ruth. I have waited for years for your promises to be fulfilled in my life. I have waited for you Lord. I have never lost hope in you Lord.

I am desperate. I am afflicted on every side. Troubles have come my way as I wait on you Lord. I have been broken, refined by the fire, taken into the wilderness, and pruned over and over again. Is it over yet Lord? Oh, Lord, I have waited patiently for you.

I feel alone and abandoned, but yet Lord, I know you have never left my side. Why does it feel like I have been forgotten at times, looked over? Do others know what I have been through, do they even care? Do they even ask if there is anything they can do, or offer to take me for a coffee? Or do they judge me for the things they do not know, and offer unsolicited “words from the Lord” to me? Does anyone truly see me but you Lord? And Lord if you fail me, where shall I turn?  God, what shall you have me to do? Please Father, not another day waiting in brokenness.

Father, I trust you, even though I don’t understand your ways for me most of the time. I have felt the stings of rejection since my youth, and I have felt I have lived more cursed than blessed at times. I have felt misplaced and misjudged, and have seen my enemies get the very things that I have been praying for. I have felt “slapped in the face” so many times, yet, I still hold onto to you Lord. I have lived with shame because my prayers go unanswered for a time, while my enemies get the desires of their hearts. I have waited in thanksgiving and waited in offering sacrifices of praise. But now Lord, my waiting is becoming like a vice grip to me, and it is strangling the life from me. The enemy has tried to get me to turn from you, and say, “Your ways are not good.” I know that is a lie.

Thank you Lord that I can come to you and share my heart. I know you have not forgotten me. I will wait for you. You alone are my hope.

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and He heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

Cry out to the Lord in your desperation. He hears your cries. Talk to Him like your very best friend. He is waiting to hear from you today.

Don't Give Up! Hope for the Wounded and the Downcast

                 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Psalm 13:12

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Psalm 13:2

Have you ever asked God, “How much longer? I can’t possibly endure this any longer.”

May the Peace of the Messiah fill you today, breathe! 

What are you struggling with? What has you up at night, and causes you deep distress? If I could hear your answers I can only imagine what your responses may sound like, “I desperately am wanting a Godly marriage, I am waiting for my prodigal child to return home, I long for a child, I suffer in secret with depression, I have an addiction that controls me, my family is toxic and dysfunctional, I suffering from physical illness, I feel rejected and alone, and the list can go on and on. It can be multiple issues you are dealing with, not just one or two. Multiple issues can cause heart-sickness and grief, you can begin to feel hopeless and without cause. You may wonder if others experience the depth of your pain and suffering. You are honestly tired and want to give up. You have tried to “put the mask” on for everybody but you cannot pretend any longer that everything is okay. You may even feel misunderstood and you may have isolated yourself from others for fear of what they would think of you.

You have had enough and your looking to just get by or not by at all. Don’t give up now! Hold and wait once again for the Lord. I know that may sound cliché, especially if you have been hurting a long time with no relief, believe me I understand. I have felt pain and experienced depths of depression that was debilitating. I will encourage you to seek Godly counsel and support, find someone who you trust that will hear your story and show you compassion and encourage you to “get up” again. There are plenty of resources on the internet if you are unable to find someone in your area or even feel more comfortable in your home. Get back into the Word of God and take time to pray, and even cry. You must let out the pain through tears and even through writing (journaling). God knows your pain, but you have to release it. Keeping things “bottled-up” inside can cause depression, anxiety, anger, and a host of physical ailments.

Know who your real enemy is, it’s not God, but the thief who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). You are in a real battle and the enemy would love to destroy you and whatever purpose God has for you. Get up! Stop letting the enemy walk all over you. Rest, be healed and then fight! Fight for your life, fight for your God-given rights. You are not alone in your suffering, many Christians have endured and walked through severe trials. God does love you and He does have a plan for your life. A plan of hope, victory, peace, and joy over-flowing. You will make it, you will get out of this pit. Let go of your expectations for your life and others and surrender your hopes and dreams to the One who created you. He is not done with you, the story is not over.

Even David in the book of Psalms understood depression.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:5-6, 11; 43:5)

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