Day 13: Psalm 42:11
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Yesterday I shared about how hoping in God is a choice. When we are faced with difficult circumstances, we can either choose to struggle on our own or ask God to walk with us through them.
In Psalm 42:11, David describes his heart as downcast. I tried to picture what a downcast heart looks like, and this is what I came up with: a heart that does not respond to any form of encouragement, wallows in misery, focuses on the negative rather than the positive, and has given up hope that anything will ever change. Sounds frightening, right?
When I was in my second year of campus, I was there. Nothing was working. My grades were terrible, I was unable to make friends, and I was struggling with campus life in general. I made some bad decisions as well, and these made the feeling of hopelessness even worse. It was so bad that one day I burst into tears in our hostel room. My roommate, seeing that all was not well, took my hands in hers and prayed for me. That meant so much. I am so grateful to her to this day.
We went home for the long holidays soon after that. When I got home, I knew I had to make a choice—either to give up completely or to believe in God. It was tough, but eventually I did, and that’s when things began to change. I felt like someone was walking beside me, holding my hand, carrying my burdens, and lifting my spirit. Though the circumstances did not change, I was able to handle them better because I had chosen to hope in God.
Reflection
Can I ask you a hard question? What is keeping you from putting your hope in God? Do you feel as though He is very far from you? Well, that’s not true. He is right there, waiting for you to surrender yourself to Him, to stop relying on your own efforts, and to place your hope in HIm. Take a step of faith and trust in Him, as I did. You will not regret it.
Prayer
Lord, You are truly merciful and gracious. I have walked away from You so many times, yet You always draw me back to a place where my hope is renewed. Teach me, Lord, to always make the intentional choice to place my hope and trust in You, regardless of the circumstances. Amen.