Trusting God In Desperate Times

There are those times in life when hopelessness looms on the horizon. It’s an intensely dark time. Fresh on the heels of sorrow is desperation. Have you ever been there? I have. Your situation seems so hard that it looks like there is no end in sight. The Psalmist put it this way, “O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God. Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?” (Psalm 83:1-2 NLT)

The Psalmist was watching the real enemies of the nation of Israel rising against them. He could foresee Israel’s complete destruction if God didn’t do something right now! He was desperate. God protect us. God help us. It was time to pray!

Listen! The LORD is not too weak to save you, and he is not becoming deaf. He can hear you when you call. Isaiah 59:1 (NLT)

Our prayer lives take many forms. Some are quiet; others are loud. Some are simple, and others are desperate. We’re given insight in this Psalm of a type of persistent prayer offered as we think things don’t seem to be changing. This type of prayer keeps pressing in with the profound expression of feelings even as it looks like the enemies are prevailing. This type of prayer presses on when it seems like the arrogance of God’s enemies will prevail. This is the type of prayer that, while it’s plain that the situation is not from God and our prayers are asking for His intervention, nothing seems to change; it may even worsen. Don’t be silent, God! Please answer me. Don’t be quiet amid your enemies. Speak. Move. Act. God, where are you?

I’m reminded today in my own life that God is not silent. Would you join me in remembering the faithfulness of God? God is not deaf. God is not quietly obliviously to my plight. God is not ignorant of the uproar from His enemies. God is not blind to the rising of arrogance against Him. He hears my prayers and answers them according to His will, timing, and purposes. With every prayer, my trust only grows in my God who loves me, and I love Him.

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11:9-10 (NKJV)

Through my situation, as dire and hopeless as it seems, I’m reminded God is drawing me closer and closer to Him. That’s what desperation does. It clears out the cobwebs of our spiritual lives and makes things much more straightforward and precise. God, it’s You and me. You love me. You care for me. You won’t leave or forsake me. You demonstrated your love for me by sending Jesus to die in my place.

I’m desperate, but I trust You in the desperation.