DAILY DEVOTIONAL 8
Brad Leight
Proverbs 3:1-6
I’ve often heard that “getting old isn’t for wimps,” and I can appreciate that sentiment. Yet I recently discovered the daily challenges faced by the “sandwich” generation – those tasked with guiding and caring for both children and adult family members, while maintaining a multitude of ongoing responsibilities – aren’t for the faint of heart either.
The demands, pressures, and stress of navigating parenting, caregiving and arranging care, professional responsibilities, household responsibilities, pet responsibilities (after all, dogs can’t walk themselves!) – oh, and don’t forget a little self-care… all that can feel overwhelming. Just as needs in one area appear to be addressed, a crisis arises in another. Anxiety spikes with each ding of a text message, as we wonder what fresh new disaster will be revealed. As pressures mount, it can become more and more difficult to hope. Each time our hopes rise, a new challenge inevitably seems to deflate them. It can seem much easier – and safer – not to get our hopes up in the first place.
The opening verses of Proverbs 3 speak to the wisdom of committing to lives of loyalty, love, and faithfulness. When a covenant commitment to love and remain faithful to God is written on the tablet of our heart, and our trust is centered in God, God will direct us through every difficulty and disaster life brings. The difficulties and defeats we face, though, have a way of chipping away at our commitment. Choosing to trust isn’t a one-time decision; it’s a lifelong endeavor.
Recent challenges I’ve faced in a “sandwich” season have reminded me how my choice to trust God must be made each day. Sometimes, each hour of each day. While I don’t need to sugarcoat the difficulty and hurt I’m experiencing in that moment, I do need to expressly choose to place the bruised and battered trust I have in God. Some paths take a long time to be made straight; still, I believe the choice to trust God is the foundational step to healing and renewed hope. I recently scribbled out the following prayer in a trying moment; I pray it will help you choose to trust when trusting is difficult.
PRAYER:
God, I come today trusting at least wanting to trust. You are good, Lord, that I do know. Yet my heart hurts, as a glimmer of hope has seemingly evaporated. Darkened to night. I wanted to dream, opened up, allowed myself to dream, and then my dream was crushed as quickly as it appeared. It hurts, God, deeply in my soul.
So God, I need to whine. I need to lament. I need to say a dream has been crushed; I need to grieve. I hear your wisdom: Trust in the Lord with all my heart, and I do. I will. I will choose to do so, even as I stumble in my hurt.
Help me to do that today: to choose to trust and not spiral in unhealthy thoughts. And as I trust, grant me the hope to slowly dream again.
QUESTIONS:
1. What challenge(s) do you face that is making it difficult to trust in God’s goodness and direction?
2. Can you use the prayer – or offer your own prayer – to seek God’s help in renewing your trust?