Devotion – Wednesday, 10 February
Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Psalms, Psalm 102 verse 26, “The earth and the heavens will perish, but you endure,” (NRSVB). The heading of this psalm describes the psalm as a prayer for those who are overwhelmed and faint; those who want to pour their hearts out to their Lord. This psalm is not ascribed to a specific author and reflects a wide variety of emotions and experiences common to the lives of people at times of great personal and global suffering. The prayer opens with the psalmist calling on God to hear and listen to the cries of those who are in distress. God is asked to please answer speedily for the situation is so overwhelming, so totally devastating, that the psalmist is forgetting to eat his food, and feels himself like a melancholy pelican, desolate in the wilderness (verse 5 and 6). Like the psalmist, we are also overwhelmed at the turn that our lives have taken during the past year. Nothing is quite the same any more and situations keep on changing, so much so, that we feel confused. We can identify with the psalmist as he talks about his lack of energy, the inability to sleep, and the sighing and the groaning that escape his mouth day and night. Despite all these conditions, the psalmist knows that God hears, and God will answer. God promises that those who call on Him will enjoy his answer and his assurance that they “shall dwell safely and continue.” Through the ages our God was, is and will be the God who hears and works on humans’ behalf. The heavens and earth will be made new, but God remains the same, from beginning to the end of the ages, He endures and there is no end to His loving-kindness. He is the beginning and in Him life, light and joy will never end.
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews states in Chapter One verse 7, “Then Jesus said: Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God –to fulfil what is written of Me in the volume of the Book,” (Amplified Bible). Jesus Christ is God’s answer to all the prayers through the ages. He is the One who came to set everyone free from the oppression that they suffer. Jesus paid the price and became the sacrifice that ascertained for each human the freedom from fear of being separated from God and doomed to condemnation. When we suffer, regardless whether it is physically, emotionally or spiritually our suffering envelops us, threatens to consume us, and we are overwhelmed. Our thoughts and our plans are thrown in confusion, and we do not know ourselves or the world we live in any more. This is a fearful and anxious situation; this is life threatening. In this pain and confusion God breaks through, and we hear the Spirit whispering to us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” Hebrews 13 verse 8.
Our world may change, our circumstances may change, our emotions may change, but one thing never changes and that is God’s love and his care for us. We cannot see that He is working swiftly to bring about change in our world, but we will still marvel at the outcome that He is orchestrating. God is the unchangeable God, who will never let you endure above your abilities. Jesus Christ is the One who came to earth for us. He died for us and resurrected for us, He will never forsake his sheep. His love endures forever, regardless. This is our hope and our joy. We are overwhelmed and we are anxious, we are living in unprecedented times, however, this is a season and it shall come to pass. We shall magnify our Lord who loves us and cares for us yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Father God, we thank you that we can come to you and join our prayerful cries to those of the believers through the ages and ask you to save your world and her people and give us new hope and joy. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
