Crying Out to God

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.”  Psalm 34:15

Life is tough.   Just about every day something happens that we have to adjust to.  Something happens that requires us to change our course, change our heart or change our minds. 

Some events happen, though, that so overwhelm us, that we are at a loss of how to handle it.  Many times we are totally knocked off our feet with these things.  They occur, but they do not rectify themselves by day’s end.  The stress, frustration, fear, and pain goes on for months or years. 

What do we do when all we have done before does not work?    What do we do when our back is against the wall and the enemy is about to crush us?

According to the text, the first thing we need to do is “cry out to God.” Babies do not have to attend a special seminar to learn to cry out.  When they want or need something, they cry.  They cry loudly, boisterously and unrelentingly until Mama or Daddy shows up to take care of the need.    Then they grow into adults who may become stoic, or swipe away a tear, but the art of “crying out” is lost to us by adulthood.

Sometimes God puts us in desperate places.    Sometimes God delays his response, sometimes he “hides” in our circumstances.  Sometimes he stretches us to our breaking point.  But from this, and other passages, we see that we MUST cry out to God.  If we want him to hear and deliver, first we must cry.  I’m talking about the newborn three hours after the last feeding. We must cry until we are red-faced.  We must cry until we are wailing, shaking our arms and breaking glass.  We have to let God know that we know He is the only one who can fix it.  We have to get his attention.  We have to show that we mean business. We must fixate on him as the object of our help and deliverance. 

God expects us to cry out to him with our needs, and according to today’s passage he hears us and is attentive to our cry.  Just like a mother can pick out her child’s cry in a room of other children, God can hear us no matter how many of his children are crying for help.  He hears, he attends to what we say and what we need.  The first step of getting God’s help in a situation is to invite him in.  He is a gentleman and does not force himself upon us.  He wants us to ask for His help and allow him to work in our lives.

Dear Lord, I am in need of your help today. If you do not show up in situations in my life, I will not make it.  Lord, I will sink if you do not uphold me.  Help me, God, deliver me.  Thank you for hearing.  And caring.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri