Be Brave Enough to Endure – Psalm 63:When David was in the wilderness of Judah.

Yesterday, we talked about breakthrough, but what if no relief comes on this side of heaven? What if you feel trapped in a loveless marriage? Or what if you’ve lost everything—job, home, family—and you see no way out of the pit? Or what if, like me, you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness? I think David wrote Psalm 63 for people in a wilderness like us.

• Please read Psalm 63 before the devotional. Ponder every line. Then pray that the Lord will reveal your personal wilderness.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1997. I didn’t have time to be sick! I was thirty-four, a pastor’s wife, a mom of two elementary-aged daughters, and a Christian women’s speaker. In 2002, new symptoms appeared that put me in bed for six months. My doctors had no idea what their test results meant.

Like David, I cried out to God, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you” (63:1a). My flesh was literally fainting, so Hubby and I went to Mayo Clinic in 2003. After two weeks, they diagnosed three chronic issues—none life-threatening, but all life-altering: chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and P.O.T.S. (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).

“I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory” (63:2). I’d seen God’s power and glory. I knew He could heal me—so why didn’t He?

My family and I had a choice to make. “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you” (63:3). Could we still believe God was good when He didn’t answer our prayers in the way we wanted? Could we still believe God was good even when bad things happened?

Question: What is the universal sign of surrender? Answer: Lifting up hands. “I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands” (63:4). David said he would surrender for as long as he lived—even after running from King Saul for nearly seven years in Judah’s wilderness.

Could I do the same and “bless the Lord as long as I live”? Of course, God could heal me at any moment. Or not. God could rescue you from your personal wilderness. Or not. But this line really got me: “My soul will be satisfied…and my mouth will praise you” (63:5). Ouch! I could muster up a few words of praise, but to be fully, truly satisfied in exactly the place where God has put me?

Yes.

“For you have been my help and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (63:7). Without these chronic health issues, I wouldn’t have the intimate friendship with God that sustains me through all of life’s challenges. I wouldn’t have become a writer. I wouldn’t know what it means to trust Him more than I trust myself.

• What’s your wilderness? What’s the chronic “condition” that God has allowed into your life to prove He’s always by your side? You need only seek Him with all your heart.

If you enjoyed this plan and want to learn more, pick up Mesu's book, Brave: The Story of Ahinoam wherever books are sold, or purchase on Amazon.