Hope To Hang On - Devotion

Hope to Hang On

2 Cor. 4:8-10 - “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken.  We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit.  We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.”      The Living Bible

I don’t understand why I have to wait on answers to my desperate prayers. I’m glad the apostle Paul was also perplexed as to why things happen as they do. We can learn from Paul’s life that the Creator of the universe does see our plight and is always lovingly at work either preparing a rescue from the storm or providing a way to stay afloat.  

In Acts 9, when Jewish leaders plotted to kill Paul, God provided a basket in which His servant was let down from an opening in the city wall. In Acts 27, Paul’s ship ripped apart in a violent storm on the way to Rome. Instead of sending a flaming chariot to rescue him, God sent Paul the ravaged ship’s splintered planks to which he perilously clung while the storm continued to rage.  Do those sound like the actions of an all-powerful God? They certainly do. Both instances are characteristic of our lives.  God either performs a miracle or provides the planks.

While we wait for God to answer our critical prayers, He provides slivers of hope along the way to reassure us of his love. As God supplies us with one plank after another to stay afloat, we must reach down into the depths of our spirit to discover a faith we never thought we had. Realizing our helplessness, we are compelled to surrender everything we hold dear to an all-powerful God.  Not only does a miracle occur in our situation, but in our hearts as well. 

Prayer:

“Thank you, God, that you have provided me with bits of encouragement while I wait for answers to my prayers. Strengthen my faith and help me to recognize the instances in which you reach down into my ordinary life with divine intervention to assure me of your intense love for me.”