September 1
Ezekiel 32:17-33:20; Jeremiah 52:28-30; Psalm 137:1-9; 1 Chronicles 4:24-5:17
Our world is filled with brokenness and sin. As we look inside our own hearts, we discover brokenness is not just somewhere out there in the world but inside each one of us. One of the appropriate responses to this is brokenness is sadness. We find this attitude expressed in Psalm 137. Judah had been exiled to Babylon and the psalmist can only respond with tears. Yet strangely, during the wailing, there is joy. Joy may seem like a drop in a bucket, compared to the sorrow, but it is still there. The psalmist remembers Jerusalem and has confidence in a God who remembers everything. So even amid hurt and pain, he clings to the joy of the Lord.
Joy does not mean absence from sorrow, but it does mean the ability to delight and hope in the presence, goodness, and power of our God. So let us fight for joy and keep our eyes on the only one who can deliver it in every situation of life.
Father God, I acknowledge the hurt, pain, and sorrow I experience, but during all of it, help me to cling to joy. Help me to hold on to your promises, your truth, and most of all you. Amen.
How can you cling to joy through hardship?
Our world is filled with brokenness and sin. As we look inside our own hearts, we discover brokenness is not just somewhere out there in the world but inside each one of us. One of the appropriate responses to this is brokenness is sadness. We find this attitude expressed in Psalm 137. Judah had been exiled to Babylon and the psalmist can only respond with tears. Yet strangely, during the wailing, there is joy. Joy may seem like a drop in a bucket, compared to the sorrow, but it is still there. The psalmist remembers Jerusalem and has confidence in a God who remembers everything. So even amid hurt and pain, he clings to the joy of the Lord.
Joy does not mean absence from sorrow, but it does mean the ability to delight and hope in the presence, goodness, and power of our God. So let us fight for joy and keep our eyes on the only one who can deliver it in every situation of life.
Father God, I acknowledge the hurt, pain, and sorrow I experience, but during all of it, help me to cling to joy. Help me to hold on to your promises, your truth, and most of all you. Amen.
How can you cling to joy through hardship?
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