Psalm 31 meets us precisely there.

“Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.” (Psalm 31:9)

This is not polished prayer. It is honest prayer.
The psalmist speaks from inside weakness, grief, and pressure, trusting that God does not require pretense in order to listen.

As the psalm unfolds, distress remains real. Enemies remain present. The body remains tired. And yet, in the middle of it all, a quiet confession emerges:

“My times are in your hand.” (Psalm 31:15)

That sentence does not erase difficulty. It reframes it.

We live and pray inside time. We age. Circumstances change. Plans remain unfinished. Prayer itself matures as time strips away our illusions of control. What remains is not certainty, but trust.

To say “My times are in Your hand” is not to give up responsibility. It is to release the burden of pretending we were ever in charge of outcomes. It is to place our days—good and bad, clear and confusing—into the care of God.

Psalm 31 reminds us that faith is not proven by emotional stability. It is practiced by returning to God honestly, again and again, over time.

The psalm closes with a word not of explanation, but encouragement:

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 31:24)

Waiting, here, is not passivity. It is faithful endurance. It is choosing trust even when the future is unresolved.

Today, you may not know what comes next.
But you can know this:

You are not out of place.
You are not unheard.
Your times are in God’s hand.

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A Prayer

God,
I bring You what I have, not what I wish I had.
Teach me to pray honestly and to trust You with my time.
Help me wait with courage and live with faith.
My times are in Your hand.
Amen.

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Reflection

• Where do you feel the pressure of time most strongly right now?
• What might it look like to trust God not just with outcomes, but with timing?