With You in Your Pain

READ: PSALM 73; ROMANS 8:35-39 Throughout our lives, we all go through times when we feel depressed and discouraged. When we’re in pain, we may forget that we can talk with God, even if it’s just to be angry. Remember: nearly half of the psalms are complaints—also known as laments. Psalm 73 is my favorite gripe. Asaph is angry and deeply discouraged. He concludes that following God is a waste of time. He describes himself as “a brute beast before” God (verse 22). I’ve identified with that many times. I’ve met God in my failure, my frustration, my falling into sin. You too may meet Him in those ways—or in illness, a broken relationship, loss, or a lifelong burden. While it can be so easy to believe that God is distant or separated from us, in truth, Jesus is right there with us in the darkness (Psalm 139:7-12). In the midst of his misery, Asaph prays, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand” (verse 23). He connects with God in the midst of his struggle. A...