Saturday, April 16

Jeremiah 31:27-34
Psalms 42, 43, 137, 144
Romans 11:25-36
John 11:28-44 or 12:37-50

Psalm 43

The writer of this psalm spends the first part of this passage pleading for God to deliver him from his enemies. What I find most interesting is this thread of doubt:

“Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by my enemy?”

In everything we read in the Bible—with all of God’s assurances that in Him we have life and in Him we are saved—we still face times of doubt. It’s like the title of that ’70s adolescent fave by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Substitute any of our names. We’ve all faced times of doubt, times where we wonder if God is really out there hearing our prayers.

But what I’ve also found is that these times of struggle often lead to times of great growth. I may not understand the path God has chosen for me, but being a Christian takes, well, a leap of faith. He’s there, and He’s listening.

As the psalm concludes:

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Susan Diemont-Conwell