*The One Who Cheers My Soul*
When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. (Psalm 94:18-19)
Father,
So often I feel like my foot is slipping. Like my life is slipping out of my control. Like my life is beginning to spin wildly off its axis. Yet I thank you that my feelings are not an accurate barometer of reality. My feelings do not define me, nor do they define what is true. You define what is true. Your word is true, not my feelings or perceptions. Teach me not to rely on my feelings as the source of truth.
When it feels as though my foot is slipping, your steadfast love catches me, holds me, sustains me, keeps me. Your steadfast love bears me up. Even though I am not steadfast, you are. My love for you comes in fits and starts. It is not constant. Sometimes I am filled with passionate zeal for you, other times my heart is cold and listless. But your love for me is a constant support, propping me up when I fall, gently pulling me along when I become weary, refreshing me when my strength is sapped.
My heart is often weighed down by cares. They oppress me, suffocate me, suck the joy out of me, hang over me like a dark cloud. I cannot carry these cares. They are too heavy for me, too burdensome for my weak soul. Ultimately these cares will crush me. But they are not too great for you. You are the great Creator, the King of Kings, the one who keeps the universe from bursting apart at the seams. My problems are not too great for you, oh Lord. No problem, no circumstance, no trial, no painful situation is too great for you!
I take my cheer from you, not from my circumstances. Circumstances bring a temporary, fleeting joy. Joy derived from circumstances quickly evaporates in the heat of trials. So I derive my joy from knowing you, not from the events currently taking place in my life. In the midst of my cares and worries, strengthen and console me. Lift my eyes above my circumstances to you, the God who rules over all my circumstances.
Amen.