In the work (ministry) that we do we may see more negative than positive. When positive change seems to come slowly in the life of another; or not at all.
We pour ourselves out!
We extend ourselves thoroughly.
We may even give all that we could give.
However heroic, the results don’t seem to happen as we would hope.
I’ve been there. I have pastored in the local church & community or have been in ministry for over 31 years. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen people in despair, depressed, & beyond the edge of darkness; where there seems to be no hope.
We may even have seen how Proverbs 13:12 is lived out; "Hope deferred is heart ache..."
I think I’m preaching to the choir because we’ve all been there. It’s as if we’ve entered into the edge of darkness and the deeper we go the less we see.
I spend a lot of time with Pastors and often hear a lot of their painful experiences. Disappointments & weary in well-doing creates a sense of loss.
I’ve worked hard to get certain results only to feel as if I am not getting ahead or seeing enough. Disappointments & weary in well-doing breeds a negative spirit.
I’ve poured myself into someone only to feel as if it was in vain. Disappointment & weary in well-doing causes heart-ache.
I can’t tell you of the hundreds of times that I’ve invested myself into another but I was not able to celebrate a positive outcome at the time.
David was there too! That is why he wrote the Psalms; as a reminder for himself through music & poetry. It was for himself and also for us at those times of our deepest depths of despair.
We read it in Psalm 27 when he wrote of discouragement; when it seemed that all was lost.
The word, "Yet."
Take a small card or paper and a marker. I want you to write the word in large letters & as big as you can, as creative as you can. Write the word: YET!
It is an adverb meaning, never-the-less or in spite of. We can use it to make the phrases, Even yet! Further yet!
That is an interesting word because of it’s context. We can find victory because we know certain things to be true. The context of knowing the promises of God or prayers that have been answered, or the results that have been effective, or even yet, the outcomes that have been achieved.
David had certainty of God’s goodness! So he was able to pen the word in poetry & song, putting it in a word: YET!
I love being able to say, NOT YET before realizing the TRIUMPHANT impact of what could be if YET I hold out in faith
It is amazing to see the potential in our kids that we serve? Saying, NOT YET to their circumstances, pain, & trauma with a hope set on the future!
David said it of the worst of times. Read Psalm 27 to fully appreciate the context what David understood of God.
David said it best when he said in Psalm 27:13 – "Yet will I trust in the Lord!"
As if to say;
.... never-the-less.
.... in spite of.
He knows God to be good at all times; even in difficulties and pain!
Psalms 27:13: "Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living."
