The Everyday Gospel Christmas DevotionalSample

Where does your mind go and your heart run when life doesn’t make sense?

I counseled a woman who had enjoyed a wonderful life. She and her successful husband had two wonderful children. She attended a good church and was surrounded by a group of devoted friends. But in an act of unfaithfulness and betrayal, her husband forsook her, and she lost everything. After she realized the extent of her loss, she had no life in her eyes, no spring in her step, and no hope in her heart. She was burdened by the uncertainty of her future. Where would she live? How would she survive? I couldn’t answer all of her questions, but I knew one thing: she was not without hope. I told her that even in the face of all the grief and loss, she would stand. I told her this not because she was strong, wise, and capable, but because the most important person in her life, the one who was near to her and who would give the grace to continue, had not forsaken her. We talked about the rock of hope that was hers in the steadfast love of the Lord, a love that never fails. I did my best to help her see that his steadfast love was as real as all of the loss that had so devastated her. Then we talked about the decisions she needed to make to move forward in her new circumstances.

When our comfortable plans for our life come crashing down, God can seem distant and inactive. Psalm 89 paints a picture for us of two colliding realities. It first celebrates God’s steadfast love:

"I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations." (Ps. 89:1)

This is the rock of hope for believers of all generations, for Old Testament Israelites as well as people in the pews in Chicago. We all experience the bright mountain peaks and dark valleys of life. Things happen that make us think life is over. In our trouble, we can be tempted to think that God has withdrawn his presence and his promises. But nothing can break his commitment to love his own.

When we read the first verse of this psalm, we might think that it’s going to be a happy psalm, but it’s not. Psalm 89 is a lament. It was written in a moment when it seemed as though God had turned his back on his children, rejecting them and withdrawing his love. But his discipline in the face of their sin was not a sign that he had withdrawn his love.

The surest indication of the steadfast love of the Lord is the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His sacrifice assures us that our sin will not cause God to withdraw the grace of his love. Today, in your trouble, remember where your hope is found: in the steadfast love of the Lord. That love is forever.

Prayer:

O Precious Lord, may I never lose sight of your precious love! Who in the skies can be compared to you? Who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? Thank you for surrounding me with that faithfulness, and especially for lifting up the head of your anointed, Jesus Christ, to resurrection life, which is my hope of eternal blessing. I thank you for all of your promises that are fulfilled in Jesus, through whom I pray, amen.