When you're in a pinch...Cry for Help

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles." Psalm 34:17 (ESV)

        The simplicity of life is at times astounding. It's amazing how complicated we make it sometimes, almost frightening.  Not too long ago I was wallowing in my misery thinking about the problems I had in my life and how I was going to solve them. Sure I wanted God's help but my limited reasoning had me to believe that He's bailed me out too many times before, I think I may have used up all my currency (amazing how we think sometimes, huh?).

         As I grew more anxious because my problems seemed to mount up higher than I expected I began to do something curious. I began to read the bible, not necessarily in search for answers but more like trying to forget about what had been racking my brain trying to figure things out. I turned to the Psalms because that's sometimes a good place to find encouragement and as I fell on chapter 34 I began to read.

          I'm sure many of us who have read the bible before have read passages over and over only to find a passage that sticks out like something out of place. You can't help but go back in your memory banks trying to figure out if you remember seeing that there. I believe it is these very moments where God speaks loudest to us. You may have glossed over that particular passage because it wasn't ready for you to discover yet. (Let that sink in for a moment)

         Now when I read this Psalm and glanced upon verse 17 I immediately put down my bible and began to think. "This is too good to be true." "Is that really there?" "Did I really see the right thing?" So I slept on it, thinking more and more about it and started obsessing over the fact that this is the answer to all of my problems, not only now but in the future as well. How could I overlook what just stared me in the face? The answer was, I couldn't. Not anymore at least. I began to understand a layer of God that I simply overlooked and I believe many people do when the going gets tough...It's not your fight to win.

         I've never seen a drowning man keep silent, nor a person badly wounded where someone else is around. No, those people cry for help because they know someone can help. There should never be a moment where you feel your problems are bigger than the one who can help you. What's more is that He not only promises to deliver you from the specific problem you're praying about, but also any other problem associated with it that you WEREN'T EVEN THINKING ABOUT. How's that for incentive? Further proof that the God of Grace is much greater than your own human reasoning can quantify. I guess the only recourse in life is just to trust him, and when you're in a pinch cry for help.