News That Devastates (Daily Devotional)

Hello everyone and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you once again for this wonderful opportunity to come your way, to spend a few moments in the word and prayer. News that devastates- Psalm chapter 77, verses 1,2 and 3, ‘I cried out to God with my voice- to God with my voice; And He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.’ The front pages of the newspapers and top stories in the internet or the television seems to focus on crime, accidents, politics, the economy going down and our conversations at work and at home begin to dwell on these difficult challenges – hopelessness, a phone call, a knock on the door, the doctor’s words, the death pronouncement. Many of us can remember times in our lives, we have received news that we know will immediately change the course of the future. Waves of dread, fear and shock run through our bodies and we can barely stand. For followers of Christ, calling out to the name of our Lord Jesus is the only thing that we can do. Hope is a natural response to shock, fear, disbelief and grief. Sometimes, God help us is all we can say and our mind races and our world blurs out. One of the wonderful things about the psalmist is that by example, we are granted permission to cry out to God in desperation. It is human to fear death, when we are diagnosed with cancer, it is human to experience to feel failure and feel hopeless or discouraged. God’s people are not required to be stoic in these difficult times. We are not called to endure pain or hardship without showing any feelings, instead we are invited to run into the arms of God who will hold us tightly, catch out tears, carry us through whatever lies ahead. In the midst of troubles, David turned to the Lord who relieved his distress and heard his prayer. Instead of hoping for temporary good from altered circumstances, he found unceasing encouragement in God. Here is what Psalm chapter 4, verse 6 says, ‘Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.’ The result was gladness of heart that surpassed any earthly prosperity. The psalmist does not rush to resolution, he merely asks us to hear and to help. Throughout David’s life, before and after he became the king of Israel, he was never without opposition but at the end of the day, he could say, I will both lie down in peace and sleep for you alone O Lord make me dwell in safety. Sometimes life hits us with such hard blows that we can hardly breathe, we feel overwhelmed with fear and grief but God hears our cries and comes near to us. Let’s pray, Lord Jesus, we thank you, for your presence near us, your presence in us and that surrounds us. Lord, we pray that when we find ourselves in these difficult seasons and situations, we will call unto you, you will make us lie down in green pastures, you will restore our soul, thank you for these promises, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Daily devotions to strengthen your faith each day. Daily Devotional for Spirit filled living. Each daily devotion is about five minutes in duration. These daily devotionals are centered around a weekly theme. So there are seven daily devotions that focus on the theme and bring you insight, understanding and revelation from the Bible. Each week’s theme is listed as a series. So you can listen to the current week’s devotions or go to any previous theme/series that speaks to your present need (https://apcwo.org/resources/daily-devotions ). Also available free sermons (https://apcwo.org/sermons), and free Christian books (https://apcwo.org/books) to nourish and strengthen your faith.