This post is part of the series His Encouragement
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A cheery and warm welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every Thursday, a few blogging friends and I will each bring you a Bible verse and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these Thursday posts help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. We also welcome you to join the conversation by commenting with your thoughts. God bless!
Today’s Thursday Encouragement
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.”— Psalm 43:5, ESV
Let’s face it. Some days are just plain hard.
Sometimes unexpected difficulties arise that throw us completely for a loop. Other times we struggle with challenges that persist in spite of our best efforts to overcome. Some of us may be going through financial troubles, health problems, relationship issues, stress in the workplace, emotional upheavals… There are so many causes for the hard days!
When you are having a hard day and find yourself struggling, do not get discouraged! It is clear from quite a few of the psalms he wrote that King David likewise struggled with bouts of depression, anxiety, and feelings of being overwhelmed with his circumstances. In Psalm 43:5, he wrote: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”
He recognized his emotional state, his distress, his confusion. That is the first step towards overcoming the hard days and the emotional baggage that comes with them. We first must recognize our situation and put it into proper prospective. No matter what others might say, it is okay to feel the way you are feeling. Your feelings are valid.
But notice how, after identifying his problem, he does not linger on his turmoil? He continues: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” This is the second step in overcoming the hard days: acknowledging our need for God. When we are at our lowest point, when we feel the furthest from the Lord, when we feel hopeless, when we feel overwhelmed… that is when we need Him the most!
Sometimes all it takes is the simple reminder of these three words: Hope in God.
Friend, no matter what you are going through today, this week, this year, it is my earnest and heartfelt prayer that you always hope in God. May you, too, find exceeding joy and “shall again praise him”.
Now it is your turn! What verse or passage is blessing you today?
Be sure to also visit my fellow bloggers and read their encouragement for your Thursday:
Continue reading this series:
His Encouragement: Work heartily as for the Lord
Thank you, Jacquelyn for sharing this verse today! Our hope is in God. With Him as our focus, the things of this world grow dim.
Amen!
Great verse! You are totally correct, we must lean on Him and HOPE. The hard things become slightly less hard when we go to Him.