July 29, 2025 Devo

Say this out loud: “NOW is not FOREVER!” Take a moment to think about that very hard thing you’re going through. Let the fear, the frustration, and the anxiety well up just a bit. Now, before despair completely overtakes you, say it again. “NOW is not FOREVER!” I can’t overstate how important this little exercise is.
The Psalmist is experiencing what many of us experience. He is going through a horrible experience in life. He’s tired. He’s frustrated. He feels overwhelmed and alone. Though he has prayed his heart out, God is silent. And that silence feels like abandonment. All he can see is darkness. That’s why the first 10 verses of this Psalm are so depressing. He’s beginning to believe that this situation is more than just a place where he’s AT. He’s starting to believe that this is where he’ll STAY. That’s when despair sets in. That is, until you get to verse 11. “Then I recall all you have done…”
When you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel in the direction that you’re going, take a moment to turn around and look back. You’ve been down before. You’ve been hurt before. You’ve been depressed before. This is not the first dark place you’ve encountered on your journey, and it will most likely not be the last. But we make our dark places darker by letting our minds go to despair, rather than reminding ourselves that the darkness will eventually give way to the light.
“NOW is not FOREVER!” is not a magical chant to make the bad moment go away. It’s the truth that gives us something to hang onto while we endure. It’s the affirmation that we’ve been here before and gotten through, and we’ll get through again. It may be today. It may be tomorrow. It may be a week from now. But eventually, this time of suffering and sorrow will yield to God’s healing, comfort, and peace. God will redeem. God will deliver. God will restore. God will lift me, strengthen me, renew me, and fill me. Frustration will give way to Satisfaction. Brokenness will give way to Wholeness. Sadness will give way to Joy. NOW sometimes feels like the longest time span there is. But it’s not. It’s just that dark and difficult place where we have to hold onto God and hold onto each other. NOW is hard. NOW is scary. NOW is exhausting. But hold on to what you KNOW and not what you FEEL. “NOW is not FOREVER!” That’s God’s Word for you today.