How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

There comes a time in the lives of most of us when we either ask or want to ask God how long he will hide from us and forget us. Or to put it the way it usually comes out: “why me Lord”? It may be financial problems that just don’t seem to go away, no matter how hard we work. It may be relationship issues that never seem to improve, no matter what we attempt to do about them. It may be physical illness or afflictions that are chronic or for which there is no hope of cure. It may be death in our families or even a combination of several of these things that we face with no relief in sight. We then begin to question why and how a loving God can allow these things to happen to us or to our loved ones. We begin to doubt God.

The answer to our dilemma is found in verses 5 and 6. We first need to count our blessings. The Lord has been so good to us. No matter what we may face it does not compare with the many blessings God has provided to us. Think about the apostle Paul and his constant affliction, which he called a thorn in his flesh. He repeatedly asked God to remove it. God did not remove it but promised to give him strength to live with it. He then said it was thru this experience that he learned to be strong in his weakness and that he learned to trust God in a way that he had never done before.

Our enemy, our pain, our suffering (whatever it is) should be viewed as our God given opportunity to learn to trust him more and to be made stronger in our weakness. Instead of giving up on God or constantly complaining about our circumstance we trust God to carry us thru. We rejoice in his salvation and sing pr aises for his goodness toward us. He has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us but will be our constant companion on which to lean and our strength in time of weakness.

O God, please increase my faith, strengthen me in my weakness and forgive my doubting and complaining. Open my eyes so I can see your presence in my life and know that you are always near. Take away my selfishness so I can see the many blessing which I take for granted each day. Lord, I pray for many who are suffering in so many ways. Let me be a source of strength and encouragement to them. Bless all who read this. In Jesus name.