Mixtapes Reading Plan – W4D2
Check out all the previous Mixtapes readings here.
Mixtapes Reading | Week 4 | Day 2
Prayer
Allow some silence for your soul to catch up with your body. Thank God for time to spend with Him and ask Him to meet with you.
Bible Reading: Psalm 42
Read these verses three times slowly.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Reflection
By Heather Lee
Life is filled with both mountaintop and valley moments, and as humans, we experience a vast array of emotions throughout our lives. One of the most painful valley moments for me was losing my mom. The season of grief I experienced felt much like what the Psalmist expresses in verse 7: “All your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” At the depth of my depression and grief, I felt as if I would drown. I remember crying out to God, asking Him for help, and questioning if He was even near. My soul longed for relief in sorrow, and God met me there in the deep.
God commands His steadfast love over us. We have a living God who meets us on the mountaintop and in the valley. God created us and our emotions; surely He can handle them. The key is that when we face painful seasons, we turn towards God and cry out to Him.
Spend some time in prayer today with God, and be honest about where you are and what you are feeling. Remember, there is hope because He is a close God who joins us in the deep valleys of our lives. There isn’t any emotion you are experiencing, or yet to experience, that He does not understand. He is a God who wants to meet you in the deep, gives us hope, and is worthy of all our praise.
*There are sometimes seasons of life when we need extra support. If you’d like to talk to a counselor or have more information on our GriefShare group, please email us at info@crossroadsgrace.org.
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
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Questions?
Ed Applegate