I cry to the Lord; I call and call to Him. Oh, that He would listen. I am in deep trouble and I need His help so badly. All night long I pray, lifting my hands to heaven, pleading. There can be no joy for me until He acts. I think of God and moan, overwhelmed with longing for His help. I cannot sleep until You act. I am too distressed even to pray!
   I keep thinking of the good old days of the past, long since ended. Then my nights were filled with joyous songs. I search my soul and meditate upon the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will He never again be favorable? Is His lovingkindness gone forever? Has His promise failed? Has He forgotten to be kind to one so undeserving? Has He slammed the door in anger on His love? And I said: "This is my fate, that the blessings of God have changed to hate. I recall the many miracles He did for me so long ago. Those wonderful deeds are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about them."
   You are a poor specimen if you can't stand the pressure of adversity. Finishing is better than starting! Patience is better than pride! Don't long for "the good old days," for you don't know whether they were any better than these! See the way God does things and fall into line. Don't fight the facts of nature. Enjoy prosperity whenever you can, and when hard times strike, realize that God gives one as well as the other - so that everyone will realize that nothing is certain in this life . . . There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.
   These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won't last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God's richest blessing upon us forever and ever! So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have . . . And having chosen us, He called us to come to Him; and when we came, He declared us "not guilty," filled us with Christ's goodness, gave us right standing with Himself, and promised us His glory.

Taken from Ps. 77, Pr. 24, Ec. 7, 1, II Cor. 4, Rom. 8, The Living Bible and The
New King James. For free Lifescope book, write to Box 1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221.