How well do you respond to hard times? The Bible has a great deal to say about adversity and how we respond to it. But how do you respond to the difficulties that others face? Do you try to help or do you look the other way? Today's passage has much to say about how we face others’ troubles, so let's listen to it:

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Psa. 24:10-12)

I have always thought of this passage as an admonishment to endure through difficult times, but lately I have begun to consider it another way. The NASB translates the first line this way: "If you remain indifferent in times of adversity, your strength will depart from you." The adversity the psalmist is talking about isn't yours; it's referring to someone else's adversity. If we are indifferent toward the adversities of others and we don’t use the strengths that God has given us to help them, our own strength will be lost. The Holy Spirit has given you and me certain strengths. That strength isn't just for you and me; it's for others as well. Let’s listen to his closing remarks again. "If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?"

Today, take some time to consider how you can use your strengths to help people in need. Use your strengths in ways that will bless you and bless them...and that is very Good News!