A Thought

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of these afflictions.” Psalm 34:19

Afflictions of illness. Afflictions of persecution. Afflictions of doubt. Afflictions of debt. We are rarely without afflictions on one level or another, but we must never surrender to these afflictions as some curse of the Lord or an attempt by the evil one to “get us”. Often we bring afflictions onto ourselves one way or the other, but the divine test comes as we work our way through these challenges; a test to determine what (or Whom) we reach for in our distress. AND we do not often consider that deliverance from these afflictions will not always match what we have in mind for ourselves. It is surrendering to this reality that determines whether our trust is fully placed in the Lord and whether we will allow Him to deliver us from our afflictions on His terms, or whether we will demand our own terms.

Live today with the sure knowledge that the Lord is, in fact, with you. Believe that He will see you through your darkest hours. Know that His deliverance is at hand. Call out to the Lord in your distress – and in your abundance! – so as to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).