Psalm 77:2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.

Psalm 86:17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Which one are you? Are you the one that refuses to be comforted or has the Lord comforted you? We are all equal in His sight and yet we do not all react to stress the same way. That is not because of who God is, it is because of who we are in this relationship.

Parents with children may have had experience with a child that just cannot be comforted and their cries go on no matter what we do to try and comfort them. I am not making an accusation that if we cannot be comforted we are cry babies, not at all.

 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

When we cast our eyes down we cannot look up.

Trembling feet have forgotten where their real help comes from.

God does not sleep, we do, and we must not look God through our own weakness.

John 14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

While this is true we ask what we want, what we fear, and forget that asking in His name does not come from a place of fear and trembling.

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Speaking in Christ’s name comes from a place of peace, not fear.

If our hearts are troubled, pray for peace of heart before asking in His name.

Sometimes all you can do for a crying child is to hug them and let them know they are loved.

John 17:26 “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Proverbs 6:12-15English Standard Version

12  A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

My troubled heart does not see “suddenly” coming soon enough.

The quote by Max Weber is “Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards.” That is what people remember because that is all that is quoted, but like scriptures quoted to make a point it is not the whole truth.

“Those who are neither leaders nor heroes must arm themselves with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all hopes.” Max Weber from the same article.

How does a steadfast heart become a troubled heart?

In my case I have to admit I have an eye on the problem and pray for an end to all this insanity. It would seem I forgot the recipe for a steadfast heart.

I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.

I will ponder the way that is blameless.

    Oh when will you come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

Or perhaps

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

Both recipes are good for the heart. I just need to take it to heart.