Read Job 19:25-27; see also Matthew 2:13-23; Psalm 18:33; Habakkuk 3:17-19
Prayer:
Dearest Jesus, You know I want to do so much for You and for those I love. But things just keep going wrong, and I cannot seem to stem the tide of failure. I am clumsy and slow. My efforts seem to cause damage rather than relieve pain. The words I say in comfort come out flat, lacking consolation. The service I render feels inadequate--a single drop of rain in a desert of need. What I lack in skill, I try to make up for in effort, in the hopes that expending twice as much time and energy will bring many more results. Yet the needs remain and no one is satisfied. It is frustrating to feel so ineffective when my greatest desire is to help others.
When will I see something positive for my efforts, Lord? You know my heart. You know my desire to serve You. And You know how hard it is to see things falling apart around me. I long for my life to be marked by successes rather than by failures.
-- Ava
Devotion:
When things seem to be going all wrong, stop and affirm your trust in Me. Calmly bring these matters to Me, and leave them in My capable hands. Then, simply do the next thing. Stay in touch with Me through thankful, trusting prayers, resting in My sovereign control. Rejoice in Me--exult in the God of your salvation! As you trust in Me, I make your feet like the feet of a deer. I enable you to walk and make progress upon your high places of trouble, suffering, or responsibility.
(From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)
Contemplate:
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If you had created the universe, would you have sent Your Son into a warped and sinful world . . . as a helpless infant? Would you have given Him into the care of a desperately poor teenager and her peasant fiancé? Would you have forced this young couple to take a long and uncomfortable trip just before her delivery date? Would you have allowed a murderous king to attempt an assassination of Your Son? Yet our loving God allowed all these things. Why do you suppose He did so? What was the point?
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