Off-Season devotionals
Can You Hear Me Now?
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Psalm 77:1,12 (NIV)
I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord…I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds.
An off-season is a dry time in life. It is a time of lack – a lack of progress, a lack of success, a lack of victory. It involves trials and feelings of loneliness. During an off-season you may feel like God is not listening to you; you may even feel like He does not care about your struggle or your pain.
Did you ever feel like the Psalmist? Did you ever feel like you were crying out to God as loud as you could just to get Him to acknowledge you? Did you ever feel like God could not hear you or did not want to hear you? If you have, you know how awful those feelings are. We must understand, however, that feelings can lie – and the feeling that says God does not care so He is not listening is definitely a lie! It may seem like God is not there in the midst of your turmoil, but He is.
God is not hiding; God is right there with you. You may not feel Him or see Him at the moment, but He is there. He promises to never leave you nor forsake you; focus on His promise to be there with you instead of your deceitful feelings.
Remember – remember God’s promises to you. Open the Word of God and discover the good plans He has for you. Remember – remember previous victories that God has given you. Remember – remember the men and women of the Bible who experienced victory over their off-seasons. Like the Psalmist, you can meditate on all of His works and consider all of His mighty deeds. You can choose to remember.
Trials Are Part of Life
John 16:33 NIV
"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
“Why me?” Who hasn’t asked that question! We all have, but a better question would be, “Why not me?” Jesus did not mislead us concerning the off-seasons that we would encounter. We do not have to be taken off-guard by these times of trials. We live in a fallen world and trials are part of it. The flesh is alive and well and that is where sin originates. man’s sinful nature (the flesh) brings harm to himself and it also hurts others; the flesh uses others, deceives others, abuses others, mistreats others, and so on. It is man’s sinful nature that produces all sin and all sin produces problems for man.
We must understand that we will go through difficult and trying times while we live on this earth; we will go through times when we feel as if God has abandoned us. We will go through seasons that make us feel that nothing good or productive is happening in our lives. During these times we must understand that God is doing a positive, Spiritual work. Instead of crying out, “Why me?” we should be declaring, “I am not surprised by this off-season and through Christ I am prepared for victory over it! He is working everything together for my good and His glory!”
As we go through these trying times, we can look to His Word and abide in it and find rest. We do not have to live anxious, stressed, and miserable lives. We can enjoy today and look forward to what God has in store. He is at work even when we do not see Him. Rest in that.