Yes, you have faith in God. Not only do you believe in Him, but you also love Him and trust Him.
You’re not saying that because it’s the right thing to say. You really mean it from your heart. You even know, acknowledge and are thankful for what He’s already done in your life.
You know you are blessed, and that there is always someone in a ‘worse situation’ than you…But,
Some days you are STILL overwhelmed.
Some days you feel your current situation will never change for the better or fear it will change for the worse.
It’s not that you don’t believe God can change your situation. You just don’t know if He will.
You’re wondering what IS His will for you. So much so, that you are beginning to lose hope.
You know what Job said…
Job 13:15 (NKJV)
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
Yes, you surrender to God’s will, but of course you don’t want God to ‘slay you’.
So what do you do when your hope needs help?
There is help in the Psalms. The Psalms of lament are rich with guidance of how to approach God when you feel your faith is strong, but your hope is gone.
Personal Psalms of Lament: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9-10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25,- 28, 31, 36, 39-43, 52-57, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 77, 86, 89, 120, 139, 141, 142.
Community Psalms of Lament: 12, 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 85, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129
Here are two…
Psalm 13 (NKJV)
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 142 (NKJV)
I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.
3 When my spirit [b]was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
4 Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, O Lord:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
6 [c]Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.”
They usually begin with the psalmist expressing deep despair, feeling abandoned and being overwhelmed…
ACKNOWLEDGE & ADMIT
Sometimes we can feel we are letting God down when we admit how we feel. Some people will even tell you that your heavy heart means you don’t have faith. THAT’S NOT TRUE!
Jesus was deeply troubled the night He was betrayed.
Matthew 26:38 (NKJV)
38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
He expressed His agony on the cross…
Matthew 27:46 (NKJV)
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Does this mean that Jesus didn’t have faith? Of course not. And, notice the fact that He told those closest to Him that His soul was sorrowful. He didn’t try to hide it. He didn’t try to be ‘macho’, and He wasn’t ashamed.
TURN YOUR PITY PARTY INTO A PRAISE PARTY
This isn’t always easy, but it’s so powerful. Every Psalm of lament ends in praise and thanksgiving to God as an example to us. There is power in sincerely praising God. Not as a gimmick or means of manipulating Him to move on our behalf, but sincerely letting Him know with the fruit of our lips that we love Him and trust Him…
Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, [a]giving thanks to His name.
Hebrews 12:12-15 (NKJV)
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
God has a way of allowing our hope to be renewed and peace to spring forth from nowhere in the midst of our despair and sorrow.
On the days that you feel your hope is low, or gone…go back and read through the book of Psalms. Stop in the midst of your sorrow and give praise and thanks to God. And remember His promises to His people…
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope
HEY! WHERE’D THAT PEACE COME FROM?
HOW TO TURN YOUR PITY PARTY INTO A PRAISE PARTY…
BE BLESSTIFIED!
BE BLESSTIFIED! 
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