Their Stronghold in Time of Trouble

Today's Reading:
Numbers 6:1-7:89
John 8:31-59
Psalm 37:32-40
Click on Text Link to Read Online

Focus Verses: Psalm 37:37-40
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace. 38 But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked. 39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
 
Insight:
Present circumstances do not indicate wickedness or righteousness. The righteous may suffer and the wicked may prosper, but ultimately justice will be carried out in the future. There is a future hope for those who seek peace. There is a future destruction for those who ignore God and live according to their evil and selfish desires.

Response and Action:
My hope is in the Lord. The future I long for is in God's hands. I will not let present troubles overwhelm me. I will not let hardship turn me away from the future hope God has promised. I will lean into God's grace and look for the strength I need to face today, trusting that one day things will be made right. I will reject wickedness, even if the wicked appear to be prospering. God has promised that those who live selfish and destructive lives will one day be destroyed. The Lord is my refuge. I will seek to honor him and trust him to see me through.

O God, I ask you to uphold and encourage me in the face of difficult and trying circumstances. Help me to never forget that those who prosper through wickedness will face judgment. Remind me that those who are faithful to you will never be put to shame, but will one day take hold of a joyous future. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Resources:
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
by N. T. Wright