In times like these, it is easy to become discouraged and fearful of what is to come.
We can get so caught up in the confusion and chaos going on around us that we forget for Whom and why we are here.
It is in these moments that I want to encourage you to recall the faithfulness of the Lord in your life. Every believer has a story, a testimony of how God brought them out of their sin and saved them; how the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored them and set them on a path towards life and healing.
In Psalm 71, the psalmist finds himself in turmoil. He asks God to rescue him from the “hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man” (Psalm 71:4, ESV). He describes the enemies surrounding him, and he is afraid.
One particular section of this psalm stood out to me. The psalmist writes:
“O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.”
(Psalm 71:17–18, ESV)
He also writes,
“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.”
(Psalm 71:20–21, ESV)
I believe what the psalmist does here is vital to all who have felt discouraged: he remembered. He remembered the Lord, how the Lord taught him from youth, and saw him through many troubles. It was this recollection that assured him that God would see him through again.
What troubles you? What struggles are surrounding you today?
My challenge for you is this: remember God’s faithfulness and be assured that He who once brought you through the struggle will carry you through again.
