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I’ve been reading through Exodus this past week, and one of the character traits of our Father that jumped off the pages for me is the simple recognition that God has deep compassion for the most vulnerable among us.

I expect we’re probably all familiar with the dangers of comparison. How comparing our situation to other people’s situations in any of a variety of areas robs us of contentment and peace, leading to spiritual death. Yet, despite knowing the practice of comparison is an unhealthy dead-end, we still do it. So, let’s share in a brief reminder as we fight this sin.

Every now and again, my soul strolls into the shadows of despair. Sometimes it’s easy to pinpoint the trigger. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it feels like a nebulous weight pressing down. Sometimes it feels like a malaise where the exact same activity that was bright and full of life yesterday is bland and constraining today. Intellectually, you know the Truth that produces joy, but emotionally, the feelings just won’t fall in line. Sometimes, the despair lingers, slowly and increasingly suffocating. The more you think about the shadows, the harder it is to escape.

I recently “stumbled” across a treasure trove of wisdom in the short text of Psalm 131: "Lord, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever."

Have you heard the phrase “saved and being saved?” The concept is that, by receiving the gift of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you were in a single moment fully and finally declared righteous and saved from the penalty of your sin unto eternal life in Christ. Then, by that same faith in Jesus Christ, you are being saved on an ongoing basis every single day from the chains of sin, pride, fear, doubt, etc. that had previously enslaved you.