Crying in the Depths

    

    

Ps 130:1-2

 

130 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord ;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

NIV 

 

Today is just one of those days.  A day when the mountain seems too high to climb. My desire is to plop down in the grass at the bottom and never ascend.  Today is a day that makes life seem undoable, dreadful,  and a drudgery.  Today the trials of life seem to scream louder than the joys.  Do you ever have days like that?

 

The psalmist was having such a day in these verses.  A day in the pit.  A day in despair.  When those days happen, we cannot sit silently and hopelessly.  No!  We must cry out to God!  We must remind ourselves that He will hear our voice.  He will attend to our cry for mercy.  No matter what we face, we must cling to the truth that He is greater.  We can never forget that he loves us infinitely and His resources for us are without limit.   His mercy preserves us, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  (Lam 3:22, NIV)

 

It may look bleak, but God has not left the throne.  He is still reigning supreme and He has placed all of life's burdens and trials under His feet.   He has conquered them all. Because of that, we know that we will walk forward in victory.   We will come out on the other side.  We do have a glorious inheritance that nothing can take away.

 

Take a moment and commit the problems of your life to the Lord.  Unburden yourself at the foot of the cross.  His big shoulders can handle the weight that would crush you underneath.

 

  Dear God, I need you today.  I need Your strength, Your joy, and Your hope.  I need to see Your hand at work. I need a breakthrough.  A sign of hope to sustain me.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 

 

 

Fulfilled

“I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.”  Psalm 57:2

 

Have you ever had those dreams?  You know the kind- you scream and cry for help, but no sound comes out.  You are paralyzed in fear, but you can do nothing to help yourself-not even to utter a cry.  I have had more than my fair share of those “night terrors” and when I awaken I am always left with a feeling of relief that I am not as helpless as I felt.  Thank God that He gives us a voice to cry out to Him.  He grants us the ability to make our needs known to Him- even if it is within the quietness of our own heart.

When we cry out to God, He hears us and fulfills His purpose for me.  For you.  Is there anything more special than knowing that God has a good purpose for your life and that He works to fulfill it?  When obstacles come to derail us; when we are faced with uncertainty and disappointment, the fulfillment of His purpose is still going forth unchanged.  We are moved by what we see- especially if what we are seeing is a lack of progress.  But those things do not move God.  He is not lacking in resources and ability no matter how bleak and impossible it may be looking at this time.

I discovered (rediscovered) this gem of a verse yesterday as I was facing a very uncertain situation in my life today.  At the time, it leapt off the page to me as confirmation that He knew what was going on in my life and it had not changed His plans for me.  Praise God that we serve an unchanging, eternal God.

Dear Lord, thank you for working to fulfill your plan for me.  Help me to not get in your way.  And a big thank you Lord for answered prayer!  In Jesus’ Name.   Amen.

Sherri

An All-Nighter

“Evening, morning and noon and I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”  Psalm 55:17

 

For my day job I am on call 24/7, 365 days per year.  No matter when one of my folks needs me, I am available to them.  But the truth is that sometimes they may call me and my pager my fail.  Or perhaps I am in an area where cell service is spotty.  Despite my best efforts I am not always as readily accessible as someone may need.

I am so grateful to know that whether I need the Lord in the wee hours of the morning, during a hectic lunch break or after dinner, He is always there.  He hears me.   In the deepest dark of night, He is there.   He is available, concerned and interested in the things that pertain to me.  Nothing comes my way that He is not aware of or that He has not already planned his provision, protection, wisdom or solution for.  He is such a personal Savior! 

Lately, I have been crying out to him at all hours of the day and night.  I need something from him- desperately, and I am anxiously awaiting His response.  I am so thankful that he does not handle my needs like a toll-free number.  For impending death, press one.  For routine sickness, press two.  For petty life frustration you can expect a long wait…  He does not have to put me at the bottom of the list to still be available to someone whose need is greater.  He is so there for us.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record and feel sure the Lord is tired of hearing the same song, different verse, each day from me.  But yet he loves, he cares and he listens.  Cry out to him.  He is there for you.

Dear Lord, you know what I need more than I do.  If you don’t show up in my situation, I have no other recourse. Thank you that when I look to you, I am saved.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

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