Christian Reflection and Prayer

God will wipe away sorrow forever

Is God concerned about our pain?

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those
who are crushed in spirit. The righteous face many
troubles, but the Lord rescues them from each and every
one.
Psalm 34:18-19 NLT

He was despised and rejected — a man of sorrows,
acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on
him and looked the other way when he went by. He was
despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows
that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were
a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was
wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we
might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!
All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's
paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt
and sins of us all.   Isaiah 53:3-6 NLT

Crying ones

Through the pain and sorrow of Christ's experiences on
earth, God has experienced the depths of human grief.
You that are called born of God, and Christians, if you be
not criers, there is no spiritual life in you; if you be born of
God, you are crying ones; as soon as He raised you out
of the dark dungeon of sin, you cannot but cry to God.
John Bunyan

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing
House

A man was driving down the street frantically looking
for a parking space. He had an important meeting and
was running late. Not a space was in sight. In
desperation, the man turned toward heaven and prayed:
“God, if you find me a parking space, I promise to go to
church every Sunday and give up swearing for the rest
of my life!” Suddenly, the parking space in front of him
opened up. The man looked back up and said, “Never
mind, God, I found one!”

This story drives home two points. First, it
demonstrates our tendency to turn to God only in
times of trouble and crisis. Secondly, this story points
out that although we may make all kinds of changes
and commitments to God during our time of need, we
often forget about our promises when we no longer
“need” God’s assistance.

We can choose to remember God in good times as
well as in difficult times. We can choose to honor the
commitments we make when life gets tough, or even
better, we can dedicate ourselves to becoming better
people before we are in crisis.

Our God is good and faithful; He has done so much
kindness for us in the past. The best kind of gratitude
is to make Him the focus of our lives in the present

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.

(excerpts taken from Holy Land Moments)

"In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a
man of prayer." — Psalm 109:4

I really believe that God delivers to us exactly what we
need at that moment. Whatever happens as a result of
the enemies in my life was bound to happen to me one
way or another. This clarity allows me to let go of my
need to hate back or repay the hurt. It allows me to
choose love instead.

If you are like the rest of us, there are probably people
in your life who have hurt you at one time or another.
There are probably also people that you don't know –
even in other countries – who say and do things that
are hateful toward you. But remember – everything is
as it should be and they, too, are part of God's plan.
Lose the hate and choose to love.

Don't put your enemies in their place; instead place
them in your prayers.