Devotional: Let the Lord lead you through hard times

Have you ever opened your eyes in the morning and seen the sun’s rays just pouring in through your windows, and head the birds singing, and said, “Oh, Lord, what a beautiful day! Thank you!”?

It’s easy to praise God for a sunny day. But have you ever opened your eyes and all you could see was clouds or fog? Did you wake up this morning feeling all alone? Or sick? Or worried? Can you praise God on a day like that?

David said (in Psalm 43:1): “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

We know David’s life was not all sunshine and singing birds. He faced enemies that wanted to kill him. He saw four of his sons die as God’s judgment for his own sin. He saw dreams that went unfulfilled. He knew loneliness and despair. Yet, David wrote that he would continually praise his Lord.

Through sunshine or shadow, our Lord is always there. His mercy and faithfulness to us are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22, 23). When Jeremiah wrote those verses, Jerusalem had been destroyed, most of Judah had been taken into captivity, and he had been thrown into a slimy mud-pit jail.

I do not want to minimize what you may be going through. Life is tough. But we need to learn to praise God no matter how our day looks. Flowers don’t bloom unless a little rain falls.

Someone out there reading this must have needed this encouragement from God. This wasn’t what I planned to write for the church page article this week. Take encouragement from God’s Word today, my friend. God is watching.

I learned a chorus at camp many years ago that said, “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow.”

Follow closely to the Lord and He’ll lead you through.

Pastor Larry Wise

Highland Community Church

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Devotional: Let the Lord lead you through hard times."