Sometimes the cares and concerns of this world just appear to be too much to handle. The amount of human suffering – much of it close to home- threatens to be overwhelming at times.
Have you wondered how much more you can take? Have you cried out to God for understanding and relief? Have you begged Him to just make it stop?
Personal tragedy is not respecter of persons. Hurricanes and tropical storms, other kinds of disasters assail our country and in my own circle of influence the father of a long time friend of our son recently and suddenly passed away, a friends mother is having cancer surgery this morning, a friend's parents to deal with declining health, and now- a young woman I know was very recently sexually assaulted.
David cried out to God in Psalm 130, “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. Lord,
hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.” I have echoed his plea.
We feel so abandoned and so adrift during these tumultuous times of our lives, and I confess that even prayer is difficult! That unchangeable connection to the Head, that is Jesus Christ, seems to be thin and distant. Despite how I feel, I must jerk myself back to truth, back to the foundations that are unshakable and immoveable by hurricanes and human failings.
Psalm 139 asks, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”
Oh the comfort this brings my soul! I know that others have wandered in this place before me, and have experienced these days of unease. David wondered if there was any way he could escape the watchful eye of the Almighty God and answered his own question this way,
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I
take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand
will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will
overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:7 -12
Even greater comfort floods my soul as I know just as David did, that God is inescapable, He is above, below, beside, behind and even inside of me. I do not have to seek Him, I have been found by Him. I do not have to beg for His rescue, He has already done that. No matter the feelings that come the truth is that I am being kept, I am being sheltered, I am being carried and sustained by Him.
When your life seems to be completely out of control, please my reading friends remember that it is never out of HIS control. God is the sovereign God of the universe and He does what He wants with what is His.