“A rising tide lifts all boats.” This saying describes the way of thinking expressed in Psalm 102. The psalmist is suffering terribly but he feels that his personal troubles will be solved when God acts on behalf of his people as a whole. When God’s purpose for humanity triumphs, he assumes, then, and only then, will his problems be truly solved. This way of thinking goes very much against the grain of our individualistic way of thinking. So, it is worth noting. Distressing circumstances might easily make us more self-centred. But, if we think biblically, they can have the opposite effect. Our distress is nothing but the experience of our common human predicament. Your problems will only be solved when the problem with the world is solved. What you are experiencing is the plight of being a broken person in a broken world. You are not the only one with this problem. We are all in the same boat and people all over the world are suffering what you suffer. So, pray that God would come and save us all! The answer to your individual problems is what Jesus wants to do for us corporately. If you want God to bless you then pray for the rising of the tide of God’s blessing in your church, in your town and in the world. What you long for the most individually will only be fulfilled by what God will do for us his people corporately. We are all like boats stuck in mud at low tide. God will lift you up when he lifts us all up with the rising tide of his coming kingdom.
Pray that God’s kingdom would come and that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Read Psalm 102
