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Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!

Jeremiah 20:13–14, NKJV

These words of Jeremiah seem disjointed as we hear his praises to God and then his curses against his own life. Jeremiah’s life as a prophet was full of hardship. It would have been easier for him to say what people wanted to hear, but the words which God placed on his heart prevented him from doing so. This is the struggle of faith. We may see things that are wonderful and glorious and, at the same time, be in the greatest struggle of our lives. Yet, our Lord calls us to praise Him. Our Lord calls us to proclaim His glory. We are His chosen as we proclaim our joy in Him with tears in our eyes and our hearts aching because of the suffering we are experiencing or the struggles we are facing. We are not only to know His providence when it is evident before us, but walk in the certainty that it is present because our Lord is ever present and, in this, we may know His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.