It is very easy to get bogged down in difficult times. We can easily find ourselves with “spiritual blinders” on our eyes. All we can see is our pain and confusion. We cry out to God for help but feel like He has abandoned us when He doesn’t fix the situation.
The writer of Psalm 77 felt that way. He writes in the first two verses, “I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.”
God was silent in the middle of his pain. The Psalmist was tempted to continue his groaning and wonder why God had rejected Him. But he made a different choice. Rather than stay miserable, he decided to meditate on God’s works of the past. He willfully decided to turn his thoughts to the “mighty deeds” of the Lord.
We choose what we will focus on every day. We can depend on the things we see and the way we feel to dictate our state of mind. Or, we can depend on the faithfulness of God we have seen displayed both in our lives and in the lives of others we know.
Focusing on God doesn’t mean we ignore the problem. It means we put the emphasis on the One who can solve the problem. When we are tempted to let our problems lead us into despair, we can choose to think about God’s goodness instead.
Lord, help me focus on you and not the problems I see around me. Help me remember the times when you have come through in the past. Amen.
Go Deeper ― If you haven’t already, begin keeping a gratitude journal. Begin making notes of things God has done for you. Write down times in the past when He came through. Keep that journal close at hand and refer back to it when you find yourself getting bogged down by problems.
Photo Credit: Steven Van Loy