Psalm 44:17-26

Psalm 44:17-26
  New International Version (NIV)
 
  17 All this came upon us, though we had not forgotten you; we had not been false to your covenant. 18 Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. 19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals; you covered us over with deep darkness.
   20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21 would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? 22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
  23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. 24 Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? 25 We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. 26 Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.

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  Had someone edited the Bible to make sure it was neat, clean and polite, this Psalm would have been but down.  Instead, we have the Holy Spirit-inspired words that call God to action on our behalf.  God is teaching us how to cry out in despair--because crying out to God when we need God is much better than ignoring God altogether.  We know that God is all-powerful, and often we don't understand exactly why God doesn't choose to intervene for us.
  I love the Christian faith because it's real.  The Bible is written for a people immersed in the mess and chaos of life.  Everything isn't perfect in our little worlds--we have raw pain and deep hurt and tough emotions.  We have big questions for God--we want to know why God hasn't intervened.  The Bible doesn't just pretend this isn't real.  The Bible confronts the brokenness of humanity head on, and it doesn't give us easy answers.  God treats us like mature adults and calls us to wrestle with the biggest questions we face, because God is big enough for our anger and our questions.  Don't be afraid to confront God--just be prepared for God to be bigger and grander than we might ever begin to expect.
  God is majestic and perfect, and we shall see this clearly someday.  In the meantime, we'll wrestle with the reality of evil and the existence of his perfect grace.

May you be willing to endure today