06/12/2026
A Friday Devotional by Rev. Brooke Robbins
On Sunday, we began our new sermon series, “The Gospel According to the Grammys” and we looked at Brandon Lake’s hit, “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” I’m curious if you, like me, sat through that sermon with a bit of a highlight reel playing in your mind of all your hardest times. We heard our worship band sing, “I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt, been-through-hell hallelujah. And I'll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail, story-to-tell hallelujah.” Many of our praises likely only come through our hardest moments, when we have made it to the other side and are able to see the light. We can sing hallelujah in those moments as we consider that darkness God walked us through, the depths of our despair that we emerged from on the other side. Those are the hard-fought hallelujahs, the one that really tested us.
When we are in the midst of those hardest times, there’s a certain degree of surrender that is necessary. While in our day-to-day, we attempt to solve most of our own troubles, there are times when we simply must face the fact that we can’t do it alone. And for Christians, I hope that we realize that when we need that help and support, we can turn to God.
But... what to say to God? How to put into words the despair, the desperation, the complete out-of-control feeling we have pushing down on us? In Pastor Dave’s sermon, he shared a short half verse from the book of 2 Chronicles. While it’s not our most familiar book of the bible, it is rich and full of hope. For context, a battle is about to be waged, and “a great multitude” is coming for Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah. He “was afraid, and set himself to seek the Lord…” At the conclusion of his prayer to God he prays:
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:12b
He won that battle not by military strength or strategy, but by his complete reliance on God. I love that his prayer just lays it out: we have no idea what to do, but our eyes are on you. This reminded me of a prayer we’ve shared at church and here in devotionals before, written by Thomas Merton.
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
We don’t have to have words. We don’t have to make theologically sound points or argue a case before God. We can simply say- I’m a mess. I need help. Help me, God. These are possibly the most honest of our prayers, and I think God is there listening to us, feeling our pain, and supporting us. May it be so. Amen.
