Corona Devo 379

The other night after soccer practice, our daughter slinked into the car, worn out.  Not from the rigors of drills and sprints but from the depleting nature of mean girls.  I wanted to cry.

I know women of all ages can be rough, but I wasn't prepared for the heavy-hearted son that plopped himself in the front seat after track practice the following day.  A big kid was (literally) pushing him around and to the back of the line repeatedly, so that he didn't get to take a turn all practice, all the while a posse of boys belittled him and shoved him around.  He was unhurt but he sat there next to me now, subdued and quiet.  I wanted to cry.

In discussing this with him later, he brushed it off and finally blurted out that I should talk to our other son about what he has been going through at school.  What?  I wanted to cry.

After some prying, I got a third story (from the third child) of hard-times in young-adulthood. It turns out the boy in his class that he had previously only mentioned as "annoying" was actually yanking his backpack (and him) down, stomping on his feet and telling our son daily that no one likes him, and that they would all be better off if he weren't there.  I wanted to cry.

Where do you go from here?  

Day to day, life has it's ups and downs, but God is good, and we do our best, and things work out, right?  

Well, what do we do on the days/and in the valleys when they are not working out?  When we want to cry?  

These are my examples lately, but you have your own, and we all have trials.  At one time or another, we all face struggles, closed doors, mean people, and bullies.    

Where do you go from here?  

I went to my Bible.  I prayed (alot), and laid it all out to Jesus.  My brokenness for my kids, and also my brokenness for the broken-kids who were lashing out at them.  Those kids learned that behavior from someone.  Maybe a parent treats them that way.  Maybe a year of isolation and quarantine has not been conducive or kind on some children with verbally or physically abusive parents.  

I don't know.  But God does.  And I went to Him.  

He came to me via Psalm 55.  He comes to you and your bully situations too:

Psalm 55

(1) Listen to my prayer, O God.  Do not ignore my cry for help!

(2) Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.

(3) My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats.  They bring trouble on me and angrily hunt me down.

(4) My heart pounds in my chest.  The terror of death assaults me.

(5) Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking.

(6) Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!

(7) I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. 

(8) How quickly I would escape—far from this wild storm of hatred.

(9) Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans, for I see violence and conflict in the city.

(10) Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders, but the real danger is wickedness within the city.  ~Psalm 55:1-10

If you have experienced anything like the earlier situations I described, these verses reveal everything about how it feels.  God knows us, and it is somehow a comfort and a relief just to read Scripture that defines our feelings.  Thank You for hearing me, seeing me, understanding me.  The Lord does.

We have a loving and omnipotent (all-powerful) God who sees our struggles and walks through them with us.  

After defining how it feels, Psalm 55 moves into reminding/encouraging/and mobilizing us in our faith.  Where do we go from here?

Psalm 55

(16) But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me.

(17) Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.

(18) He ransoms me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, though many still oppose me.

(19) God, who has ruled forever, will hear me and humble them.  For my enemies refuse to change their ways; they do not fear God.

(22) Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.  ~Psalm 55:16-22

Do these soothing verses cause anyone else to exhale in relief and comfort of the Lord's presence over our right now?  

Our difficult situations are not going to "go away", but Psalm 55 gives me a new perspective, a comfort, and a strength within our difficult situations--His name is the Lord, and we can give our burdens to Him and trust that He will get us through.  That's called faith, and mix in a little hope and we just might have the energy to get out of bed the next morning and face the day.

Your burdens may be different than a mean girl or a bully in class, but the troubles of this world will take different forms that tower over each of us at one time or another and we can become overwhelmed by my troubles (Psalm 55:2). 

We have someone that stands up for us, though.  Even talking to Him and reading His Word bring comfort, direction and perspective.  And He will not let us fall.

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.  ~Psalm 55:22

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com