How Long, Oh Lord and Sunday Grace Notes

There are many times in our lives where we feel alone and abandoned. But here is dose of grace and hope for those times we cry out how long, oh Lord.

It’s tough being a parent sometimes.

Especially when you see your baby getting the hard knocks of real life when they’ve barely left the nest.

We face enough trouble and hard times in our own lives, that when loved ones walk that tough road, too, you can’t help but hurt for them.

Or maybe you are the one being tossed as wave after wave keeps knocking you down.

Here is how to call upon the Lord of peace when those anxious thoughts are overwhelming your heart.

How Long, O Lord?

When we face those times of trouble and feel the full pressure of heart sorrow deep within, it is easy to have feelings of abandonment.

Abandonment from friends, from family, and quite possibly feeling the absence of God.

But friend, we must boldly approach the throne and trust in God’s unfailing love.

Honestly express your struggles.

I love how the Psalms give example upon example of how we can take our deepest feelings to Christ Jesus.

The Psalms are the music of our prayers.

They are full of intense desire, pain, and lament, followed by faithful love, joy, and trust.

They provide a real example of how we can bring everything to the feet of our Savior.

Open your heart and ask, “How long?” just as David did in Psalm 13 in this cry of prayer:

¹How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
    How long will You hide your face from me?
² How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because He has dealt bountifully with me.

One of our dear friends from our old church in Nashville wrote a beautiful song based on this psalm. You can listen to Michael O’Brien on Amazon or Spotify.

I love how the song moves from sadness to praise in a simple turn of music and melody.

David’s feeling of abandonment is clear as he faced whatever troubles he was dealing with. He was begging for the Lord to answer him.

Walking the rugged terrain of life’s difficulties is often a mystery, but after every trial, we are stronger.

As we honestly express our vulnerability to our God, we will mature in our faith.

Openly express your astonishment and confusion.

If you read the first chapter of Habakkuk, it begins with the same cry to the Lord – feeling alone and unheard.

They were facing battle with the Babylonians, surrounded by wickedness and perverted justice.

In verses 6-9, God describes the fiercest of the Babylonians, and in response, Hababbuk begins with three words. “Are you not…”

What a bold question to ask the Lord. That clearly showed his confusion of why the Lord was looking upon the Babylonians and not paying any attention to His people – the righteous men.

Where will you turn with the confusion?

Bring it to God and He will again strengthen your faith.

Even in the final hours of His sacrifice for our sake, Jesus cried out asking why God has forsaken Him.

Knowing our Savior has felt this same way can compel us to turn to the One who knows all of our deepest thoughts when we are confused with our trials.

Don’t believe the lie that God has forgotten you.

Cling to the promises of Isaiah Chapter 49, where in verses 15-16 the Lord says, “…I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..”

Run to Jesus as fast as you can.

When life has failed you.

When your heart is broken.

When your friends betray you.

When another loss comes your way and all you are hoping for is a win.

Trust in the Lord’s steadfast love and wait patiently for Him.

Take action and follow the words of Paul from Phillipians 4.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Phil 4:8-9

You may have to make up your mind to trust Him, or as Paul says – practice all you have learned.

Even if He feels a million miles away.

Just as the end of Psalm 13 reads:

⁵ But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Even when prayers aren’t answered yet – we trust.

When the pains of life’s circumstances continue to hurt us – we trust.

…but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

If you are feeling alone and don’t have anywhere to turn, run to Jesus and trust in His sovereign timing.

How can I pray for you today, friend?

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While this momma’s heart is twisted a bit with concern for my baby bird who is 2 hours away, we have started a new project.

And keeping my hands busy seems to help when the mind is on overdrive.

The Latest with Us

We are finally tackling our Dining Room!

Trent and I are taking advantage of the long weekend and scraping the ceiling and adding picture trim to the lower walls, giving that polished look.

Our hope is that next week we will have the final room ready to reveal!

New Happenings

Our podcast launched and the first week was a scary big step.

But we went ahead and published episode 2 – so you will definitely want to check it out. Trent has me laughing the whole time!