Encourgement in spite of Despair

Thank you so much - each one of you! I am tremendously encouraged by your kind words and the prayers you are offering for me. Yesterday was a much better day. And in spite of the fact I spent about an hour on the phone this morning (twice with the long distance carrier, twice with the local phone company, and once with a third party billing company) trying to figure out WHO is charging me these outrageous prices (I am not kidding. Got the phone bill yesterday. Average cost per minute? $1.53!!! Sorry. I am not paying that!) today is shaping up to be a great one.
I started the day off on verse two of Psalm 22.

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

Yesterday I studied verse one, and at first glance it didn't seem much more uplifting.

My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

I read those words and thought, OK, God, what are you possibly going to show me in this scripture to carry me through this day? I figured He was up for the challenge and, of course, He was.
Over and over the past few weeks God has been impressing upon me the importance of rehearsing the Truth, and that is how He encouraged me through both of these verses from Psalm 22. I read these words of David's and think, Man, he was really despairing. He was feeling totally alone and without hope. (Have you been there?)But I know he wasn't alone. I know God didn't forsake him, He wasn't far away. I know the Truth and I wanted to shout it out to David.
Yet, I realized David's feelings were real. They were true, with a lowercase "t." I thought about how I was feeling Wednesday - overwhelmed and hopeless - and I believed I could understand David's cries.
Even so, something in me kept wanting to fight for the Truth to be revealed. In fact this morning as I was reading verse two I kept changing the words. I said, O my God, I cry out by day, and I know you are with me, by night, and you are there.

Yes, even in the despair, He speaks.

I have been blessed beyond measure by our great God. He gives me such hope and encouragement, even in the dark times. I just need to remember what is True.
I count it a blessing, too, to receive comments and emails from so many of you who read here. You share your hearts with me, your struggles and your aches, the hope God is giving you through my words, and I am encouraged to press on. Thank you.
I pray you will know the Truth and the One from whom it comes. He is good, my friend. He is not far. He loves you more than you'll ever know. And He will lead you through this lonely, difficult time.

And now I am off to finish packing for this weekend. Trusting God to speak through me!

Loving Jesus,