“Why, my soul, are you downcast?

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Have you ever taken a ride on a playground merry-go round? You step off and easily stumble; it takes a while to get your balance. Unpredictability is a state of affairs for us right now. Uncertainty is present and former routines are frayed. That makes it easy to stumble emotionally. During this shared turbulent time in our lives, it is easy to give way to the blues, or even depression. If prone to depression or former trauma, it may be a genuine fight. The truth is that life has always been unpredictable. So we learn to adjust and build stable routines in the midst of that. But, we are used to being able to assess risk and decide if we want to take it. Not being able to do that with so much unknown now, leaves us feeling vulnerable. Vulnerability taps into former pain, shame, fears and anger, readily.
God sees our vulnerability way beyond our own illusions of control. When we praise Him we remember that it was our vulnerability that brought us to see our need for a Savior. Our hope is, and always will be, in God alone. Praise not only honors our God, but it tells our whole being that we are never alone, we are His.

Lord, help us praise you through all of our emotions, and be reminded of the Hope we have in you that never leaves.