Discouraged, Broken-hearted and Crushed

One of my best girlfriends sent me a text this morning that simply stated, "Psalm 34:18". I was in the middle of something and couldn't look it up at the moment so I made a mental note to look it up when I finished what I was doing. Throughout the morning, I continued to work and became more and more discouraged. Everything I was trying to do was leading to a dead-end, and I began to doubt I was doing what I was supposed to.

I continued to research the information I needed to move forward with my task. It seemed that the task should have taken about thirty minutes; however, my research led to opening about twenty different tabs. It would seem that in twenty or so tabs, I could have found the information I needed. I felt like I was reading a bunch of words in English that did not go together.

By about 1:30 this afternoon, I finally felt so discouraged. One would have thought that a task I started at 8:30 this morning would have been completed, and I would have moved on to bigger and better things; however, I had not only failed to complete my original task, I had been distracted from writing anything. I tried to encourage myself that it was all a part of the process of monetizing my blogs, but I felt like a complete failure.

Suddenly, I remembered the text my best girlfriend had sent me, and I knew it had to be a Word I needed to hear. I looked up the verse and read the preceding verse. These are the words I read:

Psalm 34:17-18
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

God spoke clearly to me in that moment. I was broken-hearted and my spirit was crushed, but God wanted me to know that he was near and would rescue me. He also wanted me to know that in my troubles, I needed to call out to Him for help even though I felt like running away. I thanked God for His goodness to me, for speaking to me in the midst of my troubles when I felt hopeless. God is so good.

I figured a little down-time would be a good thing for me. I often find encouragement from some great friends on Facebook so I pulled it up. I had been on there for about 5 minutes when I saw:

Matthew 7:7-8
"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

 God spoke to me again. He reminded me that when I am having trouble, all I need to do is ask, but He didn't stop there. He reminded me that if things aren't going well, I need to keep knocking. He will give me the answer; he will open the door at the appointed time.

Do I have my answer right now? Do I know exactly what my course of action is? Am I certain that I know the next steps to take? My initial thought is No, but upon further inspection, my answer is Absolutely! The only step I need to take is to keep praying and listening for God's direction. I have actually found a couple of potential sites to help me.

Am I still discouraged? Of course I am. Being human, I am subject to discouragement and disappointment when things do not work out. Being a child of God, I am encouraged that He will help me overcome this disappointment. Tomorrow is another day, and I intend to seek Him throughout the process. I know He will guide me, and I know he will not leave me broken-hearted and crushed. He will lift me up, even when the discouragement tries to sneak in and steal my joy. I serve a good God who loves me and will direct my paths.

Will it look like I expect? Will everything go smoothly? Probably not, but I know that God will be near to me and open the right doors at the right time.