How Long, Lord?

Published: Dec. 17, 2022, midnight

b'As a teenager, one of the reasons I didn\\u2019t believe in God was because I\\ndidn\\u2019t think God cared about my individual struggles. There were people in\\nfar worse situations who needed God\\u2019s help, so I didn\\u2019t think He cared\\nabout me. It certainly didn\\u2019t feel like He listened to me when I tried\\npraying. There were times I would beg God for help, but I wouldn\\u2019t hear a\\nsound.\\n.\\nHowever, I found myself reading the psalms one day, and I came to Psalm 13.\\nAs I read the first few verses, I had never related to something in the\\nBible more in my life! The author, David, begins by saying, \\u201cHow long,\\nLord? Will You forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?\\nHow long will I store up anxious concerns within me\\u2026?\\u201d (verses 1-2).\\n.\\nIt appeared as if David understood me. For the first time ever, I could\\nrelate to someone in the Bible\\u2014that is, until I got to verses 5 and 6, when\\nDavid says, \\u201cBut I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will\\nrejoice in your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because he has treated\\nme generously.\\u201d How could David go from agonizing over his struggles and\\nfeeling like God wasn\\u2019t listening\\u2026 to trusting, rejoicing, and singing to\\nGod?\\n.\\nAs I read David\\u2019s words, I realized that, even though he had struggles like\\nme, David had a completely different relationship with God. He had a\\ncompletely different understanding of God than I did. After reading Psalm\\n13, I decided I needed to figure out if God really cared, if He could be\\ntrusted, and see if I could gain the same understanding of God that David\\ndid.\\n.\\nYears later, I would come to understand that God does hear our prayers and\\nHe answers them all. However, it just isn\\u2019t always how or when we want Him\\nto answer them. But God always reveals Himself to those who seek Him (Psalm\\n9:10; Jeremiah 29:13). And He loves each one of us. He demonstrated this\\nlove when Jesus\\u2014God in flesh\\u2014came to live among us, die on the cross for\\nus, and rise from the dead so that we could live with Him forever. Because\\nGod has shown us this unshakable love, we can trust Him with every prayer.\\nEven when it feels like God is silent, His actions speak volumes. \\u2022 Hunter\\nTaylor\\n.\\n\\u2022 David experienced a close relationship with God. Through putting our\\ntrust in Jesus, we can start to have this kind of relationship with God too\\n(read more on our \\u201cKnow Jesus\\u201d page). How might David\\u2019s story encourage us\\nto seek God for ourselves?\\n.\\nHow long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? Psalm 13:1a (CSB)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nPs.13'