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Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:12, LSB

We can all relate to hard times, when everything seems to fall away and our hearts cry out to God, “Why?” It may not be persecution suffered because of faith, but when we enter these times, they are trials nonetheless. These times can leave us raw and open. Our hearts may feel like they have been ripped out and stomped on. It is here, when we truly turn to God and realize that He is all we have left, that He enters and shows us His mercy. In moments of great distress, God is near at hand, but He waits for our calling out to Him. God doesn’t do well when we place Him in second place in our lives. It is not pleasing to Him to be a thing on a tick list. He seeks and has always sought to be number one in the lives of His people. Yet, throughout Scripture, we find Him being relegated to the back seat of many lives until everything else fails. For many, there He waits. As we strip away all the unnecessary things in our lives, we will find the value of those things that we have placed our hope in. For those of us who belong to Christ, we discover our only hope is in Him and in Him alone, we can find our 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.