“But when I hoped for good, evil came,
and when I waited for light, darkness came.
My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.”
Perhaps you feel like Job. You were going about your life with the expectation of good things, but evil came instead. Darkness has descended, bringing gut-churning worry and turmoil. And the evil thing you face hasn’t passed in a moment, but days, weeks, and even months of affliction have been yours.
How do we respond to such times? Perhaps our most appropriate response would be like the Psalmist’s:
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!