Lord, the divine sympathies of Your heart bring me comfort in my affliction. For You are not a King who is far off and unaware of suffering. Our relationship is far too precious to You for that distance to even be a possibility. When temptations beat down on me like a relentless hailstorm, You are there to guide me toward escape. When disappointment opens up the bottom of my heart, threatening to swallow me up in a chasm of despair, You are there with a reaching hand to pull me up out of the pit. Such a foe is not invisible to You, Lord, because when You came even Your disciples fought amongst themselves, completely missing the foundation of Your message at first. And when I face the gut-wrenching pain of personal reflection, haunted by the enemy’s condemnation, it is Your Word that reminds me who I truly am. It is Your defining love that has the final say regarding my identity. In this, too, You are no stranger, Jesus. For You came to Your own people and they did not believe or recognize You. I thank You, Lord, this day for such a comfort as this. However difficult and painful the path, Your footsteps have tread before me to show me the way through this valley of death’s shadow. Under the Word set down in Romans 8:1-2 and the authority of Christ, my Savior, I bow in quiet prayer.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2, NIV