Great Plains Daily Devotional for 8/4/2022

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
    Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my supplications!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.

I wait for the Lord; my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
    from all its iniquities.

There are definitely times I have gone to the Lord in prayer without words to say. Often, it has been the result of some brokenness in my life. When that’s happened, I have not only been reminded of the words of the psalmist, I’ve also felt them as I “cry out to God from the depths of my life.”
 
The worst brokenness I’ve ever felt was not my brokenness, though, and it was not the brokenness I’ve felt in others when they’ve cried out from the depths of their lives. The worst brokenness I’ve felt has been when my brokenness wounded other people. I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone, but when I haven’t sufficiently healed, my unhealed brokenness almost always ends up getting projected onto others. Those are bottoming occasions for me. On those bottoming occasions I find myself baffled by how much God’s healing grace happens best when I let the bottoming occasions humble me. Healing happens through humility.
 
One particular occasion I recall is when I was confronted by someone I love dearly about something I’d done. The anxiety and hurt I felt from them helped me understand the hurt and anxiety I’d unknowingly and unintentionally inflicted. The only way I could go to sleep that night was to surrender it to God’s care. As I prayed, I felt an assuring presence say to me, “Mark, I’ve got your back. Be still. Be.” When I woke the next morning and prayed before getting out of bed, remembering what I’d been told the night before, I felt an assuring presence remind me, “Mark, I’ve got your back. Be still. Be.” With that I chuckled, remembering how my seminary New Testament professor used to tell my classmates and I, “If it’s repeated, it must be important.”
 
So, the psalmist was onto something. Wait for the Lord. God’s faithful love always redeems. What’s necessary is to know God’s got your back. All you or I have to remind ourselves is “Be still” or simply just, “Be.”
 

Prayer for Reflection

Hosea 11:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 and Psalm 49:1-12
Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21