Storms of Life: Encouragement for Seasons of StruggleSample

Tropical Depression

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (v. 11)

With the right conditions, the thunderstorms in a tropical disturbance can organize and start to circulate around a low-pressure center. It’s then classified as a tropical depression, assigned a number, and watched for further development because most will sustain winds above 38 mph and become tropical storms.

I can usually sail through minor disturbances like vacation planning, a flat tire, dinner party preparations, or another backache, without my spiritual peace getting too rippled. But when several encircle me at the same time, it seems like an organized assault. Waves of despair mount to crash against me. In our reading today, the psalmist also feels oppressed and wonders where God is. He yearns for God’s presence, but is bewildered at his downcast soul, the turmoil within, and the taunting he hears. Joyous times are distant memories.

During these threatening storms of despair, we can stir up hope by having a talk with ourselves. Twice the psalmist asks his soul why it is so troubled (vv. 5, 11). He then counsels truth to his soul by urging it to remember God’s salvation and steadfast love, and to hope in and praise God. These truths reorient our focus, so even as we hear taunts in our mind that God is absent or we don’t feel his presence, we can hope and praise God by remembering his love and salvation and how he has gotten us through these times in the past.

As you pray, praise God for his steadfast love and salvation knowing that he has not and never will leave you.