Our Daily Bread -- Four Ways to Look

February 20, 2016

Read: Psalm 77:1-15
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2

I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. —Psalm 77:12

Joan was struggling with some difficult issues with her children when she sat down for a worship service. Exhausted, she wanted to "resign" from motherhood. Then the speaker began to share encouragement for those who feel like quitting. These four thoughts that Joan heard that morning helped her to keep going:

Look up and pray. Asaph prayed all night long and even expressed feelings that God had forgotten and rejected him (Ps. 77:9-10). We can tell God everything and be honest about our feelings. We can ask Him anything. His answer may not come right away or in the form we want or expect, but He won't criticize us for asking.

Look back and remember what God has done in the past for you and others. Asaph didn't talk to God only about the pain; he also recalled God's power and mighty works for him and God’s people. He wrote, "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago" (v. 11).

Look forward. Think about the good that might come out of the situation. What might you learn? What might God want to do? What do you know He will do because His ways are perfect? (v.13).

Look again. This time look at your circumstances with eyes of faith. Remind yourself that He is the God of great wonders and can be trusted (v. 14).

May these ideas help us gain perspective and keep moving in our faith journey with Jesus. —Anne Cetas

Lord, I can’t help but see my problems. Help me not to be discouraged and weary, but to see You in the midst of them.

Our problems are opportunities to discover God’s solutions.

INSIGHT: Asaph, Jeduthun (or Ethan), and Heman were musicians who led temple worship (1 Chron. 16:42; 2 Chron. 5:12). The superscription to Psalm 77 says Asaph wrote this psalm for Jeduthun. Asaph writes of his sense of abandonment, distress, and anguish when God did not respond to his cries for deliverance from his trials and suffering (vv. 1-10). But when he remembered and recounted the mighty works God had done for His people in the past (vv. 11-12) and when he reflected and meditated on God’s holiness (v. 13), he was assured of God’s greatness, goodness, and guidance (vv. 14-20). Where God leads, He protects and provides (v. 20).

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