Day of Trouble

“In my day of trouble I sought the Lord. … I will reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions.” (Psalm 77:2a, 12 CSB)

A once clear sky can turn suddenly to rolling thunder and dark clouds. Sometimes it happens suddenly, and sometimes it builds gradually. The same is true for a day of trouble. Everybody gets them sooner or later. Some of them seemingly spring upon up like a camouflaged jaguar, and some we can see coming like a tidal wave. Either way, they do come.

In a day of trouble, we might consider all sorts of options or remedies or solutions, but one action we clearly need to take is to seek the Lord. He is not far away. In fact, He isn’t away at all. His Spirit dwells within us, and none of the trouble catches Him by surprise. Thus the most common sense action on our part is to seek Him.

Seeking the Lord calls for two related actions. First, we simply need to reflect on who God is. He is the God who is holy. He is the God who works powerful wonders. He is the God who is sovereign and who understands our frail frame. Second, we need to reflect on all He has done and meditate on His actions.

The reality is that the God who loves us has acted in our lives in ways that have brought great blessing and encouragement to us, and faith tells us that He will do so again. We believe this because we know He loves us and that He has a purpose for us. When we look back toward the works of God in our lives and remember what He has done, those meditations lead us then to a response of faith and trust and faithfulness.

Lord, In our day of trouble, help us to remember first who You are and then help us to remember all You have done to lead us to this place in our lives. Help us to respond to the day of trouble as also a day of opportunity to walk in faith. Amen.