March 12

Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us! — Jer 14:9 BSB

If the Lord has ever been present in your soul, revealing His goodness and mercy, you can plead this as your assurance, "Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us." If He has ever heard your prayer, He is with you; if He has ever given you a promise, He is with you; if He has ever touched your heart, He is with you; if He has ever graced you with His smile, He is with you. And though, looking at the course of your experience, He may at times seem like a stranger in the land or a traveler who stays for only a night, or even as one who is astonished by what you are—like a mighty man who seems unable to save—yet every token of good you’ve received from Him encourages you to hold on, cling to Him, and grasp His feet like the Shunammite did with Elisha, refusing to let go. For despite all you are and have been, you know you love Him, and you have a good hope, even if not a clear testimony, that He loves you.

Can you not sometimes look up to Him, perhaps even look directly to Him, and say, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you”? And though your sins have often made Him feel distant, in the depths of your soul, you know that you love Him. If you can look to the Lord and appeal to His heart-searching gaze that you love Him, then you can rest assured that He loves you, for the truth of Scripture declares, “We love Him because He first loved us.”