Crying Out

Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me. Among the gods, there is none like You, O Lord; no deeds can compare to Yours. Ps 86.1-8

This is a psalm that can touch the heart of anyone in any position, whether it be illness, work exhaustion or just a plain bad day. 
All the days of our lives we work on and face trials and tribulations. Some of those trials are minor, and some are devastating. 
Reading Randy Alcorn's "If God is..." speaks on the fact that we are not often taught in churches (or even Bible studies that I have noticed) how to prepare and face hard times. 
Even with preparation, we cannot be ready for things that hit us.
I was and I am devastated with my rheumatoid arthritis. I can do one thing a day. I can water plants or I can clean house. If I do both, I will sleep solid from 24-48 hours....a vast improvement, I admit, from the two week solid sleeping I once had. I miss desperately the person I was, even though I am just as desperately happy with the Bible studies I have been doing...and the information I am gathering about RA to maybe help come up with better comfort in the nausea department for all my RA friends. I am wildly ecstatic about what I have learned about God.

When we call for mercy regarding something...the mercy is not always what we had in mind. My mercy cry was for relief and removal of my RA, to have the life I had back. I still want it back at times.  For whatever reason, He has, at this point, still said "No". I wish I had a better understanding of that "No", but His ways are not our ways. (Thank the Lord for that!)
There is a reason for everything...God does not allow hard things to happen to us without a reason. If He created Creation so immense and small (scientists keep finding things that are even smaller than the last thing deemed "the smallest possible matter"), then surely He has a plan and use for the hardest of hard things in our lives. 
There is a quote that says a weak faith will be weakened and lost during hard times, while a strong faith will be strengthened. Although in my experience, that strength comes from previous hard times. Perhaps we can, as it is suggested in Alcorn's book, prepare for battle in a trial or in spiritual warfare...we can learn all we can about God with solid authors, and studies, learn from those with higher biblical education, and last and best of all, read the Bible and learn from the Spirit Himself. 

Our Lord and Savior is always there, even though the bad things are allowed to happen...He is always there, ready to be leaned on, cried upon, and even carry us. Sometimes we think He isn't there as we shout and cry during prayers...but He is. Once we have cried and shouted out our last complaints, He then begins to speak to us with the Spirit, either through the Bible, a book, a radio program...sometimes even the sky, trees, animals....but He lets us cry out our hurt, as any good Counselor would....and then He begins to speak to us, hold us tighter, show His love running so deep.