Genesis 31:17-55, 32:1-12; Matthew 10:24-42, 11:1-6; Psalms 13:1-6; Proverbs 3:16-18

“How long, Lord? Will you forget my forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.”

Psalm 13 NIV

Psalm 13 is one of my favorite psalms and beautiful, raw example of David’s trust in the Lord. I can remember the first time it struck my heart–I was going through a particularly hard time, and I remember coming across these words and immediately identifying deeply with them. I felt like the Lord was not hearing me, like I would always be sad and depressed, and that I would always feel like I had been overcome by the enemy.

But then in the midst of such sorrow, the BUT. BUT I trust…BUT I rejoice…BUT I sing, for you have been good to me.

My son is only 1 years old at the moment, but we’ve already started a bedtime routine that we follow each and every night: jammies, teeth, sleep sack, books, gratitude’s, prayer, song, bed. Every night after I read 2 or 3 books to him, I snuggle him close in my arms and ask him, “Is there anything you’re thankful for today?” He obviously can’t talk, but I help him by listing off a few things I think he would be grateful for if he could tell me: time with his grandparents, a fun trip out of the house, his fuzzy blanket for nap time, etc. Then we thank God for those things in our prayer time together.

That time holding my son close is always a moment of deep gratefulness for me. Even on my hardest days as a mom have I been so incredibly grateful for the gift of my child, because for a time I didn’t think I would have him at all. Snuggling together, praying together, thanking God for what we experienced that day, brings back all of my moments of deep gratitude to the Lord.

The Lord has been GOOD to me. Living from a place of gratefulness has helped me to embrace the trusting, rejoicing, and singing when I’m tired, hurt, or simply not sure what to do. When I think back on the day, on the year, on my life, I am overwhelmed with the Lord’s goodness to me. And when we think about all of the beautiful things He provides to us each day, the hard things seem smaller–the sorrow seems less daunting. It’s still there, but it’s diminished.

When we live from a place of his goodness, then we realize that we are not forgotten–Father God is not hiding from us. We are simply perceiving our situations in a certain light. But the beauty of it is that the Lord is with us, He is encouraging us, and if we trust Him in EVERY moment, we will always see His presence and goodness, his love and devotion for us shining through.

Psalm 13 is a reminder to me that even in my hardest moments, the Lord is there.

I’m wondering what it would feel like for you to pray Psalm 13 as your own. Take a moment to read it out loud, and see what the Lord is speaking to your heart. Do you feel the emotion of it? Do you connect with the sorrow? Or maybe you’ve felt this way in the past and now sink deeply into rejoicing and trust. Take a moment to ask that Lord what he would like to say to you through each word. Then thank the Lord for your life, for your day, and ask Him to bring to mind the things you are thankful for.

Once we are in the pattern of remembering God’s faithfulness, we will continue to remember all of the beautiful ways He has been with us, and promised to be with us in the future.