Daily devotional, Nov 25, 2023 Rock Bottom
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18
The phrase “rock bottom” comes with a negative connotation which means that a problematic person got into a situation that cannot get any worse. But do you know that it was first used in the agricultural setting? When farmers can no longer dig because their excavation has already hit a solid foundation, it means they have hit rock bottom. Not necessarily a bad thing but it signaled the end of digging.
In our life journey we go through valleys and we could fall into rock bottoms. Sometimes we just get swallowed into a quicksand of problems due to sins and as we struggle to get out of it we find ourselves sinking even deeper until we hit the bedrock of that pit.
The good news is help will always be at hand. That bedrock that we hit could just be the hand of Jesus outstretched to us as the core foundation of our being. Matthew 11:28-30 presents the Lord’s invitation for us to come to Him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
(Matthew 11:28-30)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promised that the poor in spirit will live in His presence: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3).
Biblical scholars say, “poor in spirit” meant people who are downtrodden, spiritually bankrupt, and at the lowest point in their life. The fact that the Lord is willing to extend His hand and rescue us out of the pit, even if we have been drowning there because of our own sins, addictions, idolatrous behaviors, and waywardness, just shows how merciful our God is. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When we find ourselves embroiled in sin, and wanting to change for the better, we can rest assured that the Lord will still accept us. That He will help us if we accept Him as our saviour, repent on our ways, and allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us as we abide in His commands:
“I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."
Isaiah 57:15
While He will not magically fix failing marriages, cure us or our loved ones right away, get us out of deep debt, save our business, or get us out of our addictions ASAP, the Lord will make sure that we will get the help that we need. That grace that he will give us will help us live in His presence while here on earth, and then eventually live in eternity with Him.
The often quoted bible passage in the Apostle Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) tells us that God will give us the grace that we need for every situation of our life. Whether He chooses to answer the prayers our way or His way, what He promises is that He will sustain us and meet all our needs through His power.
Biblical Scholar David Guzik says that when we pray to God to remove a burden from us, the Lord may answer either by removing the burden (which is most likely our prayer), or to strengthen our shoulders so that we can bear its weight strongly. If God decides to not remove that problem or burden from us, 2 Corinthians 12:9 assures us that He will provide us enough grace to carry on with our lives and walk with Him.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 and Hebrews 4:15-16 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Have you ever hit rock bottom? How did you survive the ordeal?
Conversation with the Lord:Father God, I praise and thank you for giving us sufficient grace to get past the dark valleys of our life. May we always recognize your hand whenever we fall into the pit of sin so that we can get back on track right away, and live our lives for you. Amen.