January 14, 2023 7:00 pm
Monica prayed feverishly for her son to return to God. She wept over his wayward ways and even tracked him down in the various cities where he chose to live. The situation seemed hopeless. Then one day it happened: her son had a radical encounter with God. He became one of the greatest theologians of the church. We know him as Augustine, Bishop of Hippo.
“How long, Lord?” (Habakkuk 1:2). The prophet Habakkuk lamented God’s inaction regarding the people in power who perverted justice (v. 4). Think of the times we’ve turned to God in desperation—expressing our laments due to injustice, a seemingly hopeless medical journey, ongoing financial struggles, or children who’ve walked away from God.
Each time Habakkuk lamented, God heard his cries. As we wait in faith, we can learn from the prophet to turn our lament into praise, for he said, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:18). He didn’t understand God’s ways, but he trusted Him. Both lament and praise are acts of faith, expressions of trust. We lament as an appeal to God based on His character. And our praise of Him is based on who He is—our amazing, Almighty God. One day, by His grace, every lament will turn to praise.
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Our Daily Bread Ministries
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled, From Lament to Praise, was written by Glenn Pacchium. Monica prayed feverishly for her son to return to God. She wept over his wayward ways and even tracked him down in the various cities where he chose to live.
The situation seemed hopeless. Then one day it happened. Her son had a radical encounter with God. He became one of the greatest theologians of the church.
We know him as Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Each time Habakkuk lamented, God heard his cries. As we wait in faith, we can learn from the prophet, to turn our lament into praise. For he said in Habakkuk 3.18, Our lament is an appeal to God based on his character, and our praise of him is based on who he is, our amazing almighty God. One day, by his grace, every lament will turn to praise.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 through 19. The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on the heights.
Or the director of music on my stringed instruments. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, remind us of who you are and what you've done in our lives. Then fill our hearts with joy and praise. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Stephen and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-01-15 09:02:59 / 2023-01-15 09:04:05 / 1
