It's as if Satan is saying, "Okay. Maybe you had a spiritually wonderful Sunday, but I still have some control over you and I'm going try my hardest to make you feel miserable physically and emotionally."
When I feel myself starting to slip into that deep and "slimy pit", I grab my Bible for a "faith hook". Just one short Bible verse that I can quickly learn and repeat over and over in my head. Something that reveals God's character. Something to "hang" my faith on.
Jesus and I had a great Sunday together! But on Monday morning I was hit with a massive wave of sorrow and despair and a horrible headache too. I needed a "Faith Hook" immediately! I grabbed my Bible, whipped it open and my eyes went straight to this verse:
" ... I will give you the sure mercies of David."
(ACTS 13:34)
I didn't even understand what it meant, but I needed something quickly. It's not even the whole verse. It's not even a full sentence. It's just the last part of the last sentence in that verse. But sometimes 9 words is all you need if those 9 words happen to come from God.
So I shut my eyes and repeated those words over and over as I talked to the Lord.
(The "David" it is referring to is the "King David" from the Old Testament. He wrote a lot of Psalms in the Bible, including the famous "Shepherd's Psalm". The one that begins,
"The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want ..." - Psalm 23)
As I prayed my misery away and repeated those few words: "I will give you the sure mercies of David", I asked God (again) for a sign that He is near and can hear me.
I don't think that prayer makes the Lord angry. He knows that we humans go so much by what we can physically see and touch with our 5 senses. And Jesus is always willing to encourage out trust in Him.
Talking to the Lord and that [partial] Bible verse made me feel much better. I no longer felt like I was falling. No longer spinning downwards and out of control.
As I got up to eat my breakfast I decided to listen to the latest sermon from Joel Osteen. The one from just the previous day.
Guess what Joel talked about. Yup!
".. the sure mercies of David." (I kid you NOT) That is what the entire sermon revolved around.
God answering my request for a sign. Answering my prayer BEFORE I even prayed it.
God is SO willing to talk to us. Are you ready to listen?
Below I've attached the LINK to the Joel Osteen video I'm referring to so you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about. I hope it encourages you too.
Love Laura-Lee
"The King is Looking for You" Joel Osteen at YouTube
