Every day is a battle. When we’re hurting, we can wonder if we’ve got what it takes to make it.
The following is a chapter from Soul Cry: Devotional Prayers for Wounded, Grieving, and Suffering Hearts. I pray you will find it comforting as you face the battles of today.
I Wake Up to Battle
John 10:11-15
I praise You, Lord of the universe,
Creator of all things.
You are enthroned above all.
Holy, holy, holy are You.
I worship You, Lord of all lords.
You are my Savior, my Shepherd.
Lead me, teach me, provide for and protect me.
“I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
(10:11)
Amid this pain, I look to You, to the cross,
where You suffered and died for me.
You are good, and what You do is good.
Your goodness is beyond fathoming, limitless, infinite.
I confess my mind cannot grasp the
immensity of your goodness,
nor do I always have eyes to perceive it.
Empower my heart to trust You and rest in You,
in all Your work and sacrifice for me, Good Shepherd.
The hired hand is not the shepherd
and does not own the sheep.
So when he sees the wolf coming, he
abandons the sheep and runs away.
Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
The man runs away because he is a hired
hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
(10:12-13)
You remind me, my Savior, that I am at war,
that every day I wake up to battle
being waged around and in me.
I praise You that You are already victorious,
even though I have yet to fully experience that.
It feels as though things are falling apart-
as though evil, pain, and suffering are winning.
Yet You remind me that things
are not what they appear,
and that grief, suffering, and evil
have an expiration date.
I know that not everyone will care for and support me,
and certainly not in the ways I would like.
And yet I insanely keep expecting it to be so-
to be treated with kindness, love, and respect
by people and places who do not have
good track records of compassion.
Jesus, You have invested Yourself in me,
not because I deserved it, but because You love me.
In this world of relational dysfunction and disaster,
Empower me to trust and abide in You.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my
sheep and my sheep know me—
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—
and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
(10:14-15)
Your love is not based on circumstances or situations.
Your love is beyond both – infinite,
measureless, eternal.
You know me, Jesus, my Shepherd,
and I know You.
I give You myself and all that I carry.
I pour my soul out to You.
Good Shepherd, Savior, Lover of my soul.
In Jesus’ name…
Excerpt from Soul Cry: Devotional Prayers for Wounded, Grieving, and Suffering Hearts
Question: Is every day a battle for you? How so? Please feel free to share using the comment box below.
