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Celebrating Hope: Looking Back Stepping UpSample

Celebrating Hope: Looking Back Stepping Up

DAY 17 OF 28

God Sees, Knows, and Cares

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD. - Psalm 102:18

With the unrest we see around the globe: the senseless—in many cases, needless—loss of life and economic sustainability due to Covid-19; the persistence of deadly encounters with police, and the destruction prompted by the rage so many feel, it is easy to be overcome with despair and discouragement. Psalm 102:2 says, “Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.” We often find ourselves wondering, Does God see? Does God care? Will God act? 

Reading in this psalm about the destruction brought about by Babylon (2 Kings 24–25), the focus shifts in verse 12 to God’s character, acts, and purposes. We read that He will act and that when God does so, all the kings of the earth will behold His glory. Because God hears the prayers of those who have no other help. He does not despise their prayers. Verses 18–22 pull back the veil of the curtain of time, allowing us to glimpse the tapestry the Almighty has been weaving. Future generations would read this story of destruction and learn that God is the One who cares for those who have no one to care for them. 

This truth isn’t just for ancient Israel. It is for everyone. No matter how bad today looks, God is still working out His plan. No matter how painful your reality has been. He is going to make it right in the end. —Charles Gilmer

When have you questioned whether God cares about what you are facing?

God, help us to trust that You see, You know, You care, and You will act. Give us a glimpse of the good You promise to bring, even out of instances of destruction and devastation. 

Day 16Day 18

About this Plan

Celebrating Hope: Looking Back Stepping Up

Celebrate Hope: Looking Back, Stepping Up is an invitation to find where God has been present with us in difficult days long past and where God is present with us now. Certainly God has been our help in ‘ages past,’ and God remains ‘our hope for years to come.’ Celebrate Hope provides us with this needed reminder and offers us the strength to carry on.

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We would like to thank Our Daily Bread for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://odb.org/