“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Ps. 94:19
Heavenly Father, the pile of heart-cares will never be greater than the supply of your grace-consolations. As our “Father of mercy and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3), you know exactly what we need, and you gladly meet our needs (Heb. 4:16).
So. with what cares are our hearts heavy early in May 2023? Fewer cares weigh more on us than our relational heartaches. People we love struggle, wander, get ill, make poor choices—Father, though we wish we could be “fixers,” you call us to love well, pray much, trust you more. We’re grateful for however you console us in our waiting. We’ll gladly settle for peace, even if we don’t quite make it to a “cheerful soul.”
Then there are the disruptions, disconnects, and distance we experience between each other—whether it’s in our families, among friends, where we work… life between the Garden of Eden and the New Earth is marked by the constant need for the riches of your grace, the advocacy of Jesus, and the work of the Spirit. Thank you for all three, Father. When we get lost in the weeds of our hurts, confusion, and fears, you shatter the darkness with the North Star of the Gospel. Thank you.
But there’s a fourth means of consolation you bring into the weeds (forest?) our heart-cares. Father, thank you for our soul-sisters and grace-brothers—our “Gospel-posse.” At a time of intense “heart-care,” the Apostle Paul worshipped you as the “God, who comforts the downcast”—who comforted Paul “by the coming of Titus” (2 Cor.7:6). Father, thank you for friends who listen from the heart, extend your kindness, bring your comfort, and help us regain heaven’s perspective. Increase their tribe, and make us like them. So Very Amen.
