Joel M Bradshaw

11Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.–Psalm 79

Asaph described a horrible season that Jerusalem was in. They had been wrecked, ruined, and laid waste. The enemy was chanting, “Where is your God?”

So Asaph called out “How long, O Lord?” The people groaned in their misery and shame.

I got COVID in January of this year. It was relatively weak like a minor cold. I tested positive and then a week later tested negative. But the virus left something with me. Not only did it reset my body stalling my weight loss, but it left itches and rashes.

Itching has robbed me of sleep. I at all times think about it. It won’t leave me alone. I have tried everything. Prescription, over the counter, homeopathic. And while things may get better for a bit, my body groans. Months and months of groans. It’s like my body has anxiety.

Depression is also a groan. MS has been a bodily groan. I like that Paul once reminded us all of this. Romans 8…

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 

Do you groan? If done in faith it can be like a lament. If done otherwise it is breeding ground for bitterness. Do you cry, “How long, O Lord?”

Asaph landed the plane with hope in God’s deliverance. He proclaimed thanksgiving and praise every amidst the suffering and shame. His story was that God was still God and still good. I have to remind myself that as I toss and turn in the night. As my skin is never satisfied during the day. What a weird new season of trusting God I am in!–JMB