WHEN YOU ARE SIDE-SWIPED BY LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES, TURN TO GOD

“I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.”—Psalm 3:4

 

Less than an hour after my husband had left for work, I received a profound telephone call.  My husband’s small Toyota pick-up truck had been broad-sided by a train.  My heart seemed to turn over on the inside of me.  As my mind tried to comprehend what I had been told, I hardly recognized that it was my husband who was talking to me.  He was asking me to come and pick him up, but my mind and my mouth kept asking if he was physically alright.  It was a few minutes before my mind could comprehend that indeed he was alright and that I needed to get into the car and go get him.  During the forty minute drive, I began praising the Lord for preserving his life, and restoring all that the enemy meant for our harm.  When I reached my husband and saw what was left of his small pick-up truck, I was speechless.  By looking at the vehicle, it seemed impossible that anyone could walk away from that devastation.  However, God preserved his life.  When questioning my husband about what had happened, He said that he did not see or hear the train as he began to cross the tracks.  When he felt the impact and the train began pushing he truck down the track, he began to say, “I will not be afraid of sudden terror.”  Proverbs 3:25-26 says, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.” 

 

At the very moment that my husband was side-swiped by life’s circumstances, he cried out to God for help.  The Lord heard his cry for help and delivered him from all his troubles.

 

In the Bible, crying out refers to speaking audibly with great emotion concerning an urgent need.  God invites us to use this form of prayer to communicate that we desperately need his mercy.

 

It takes both faith and humility to share our heart’s concern aloud.  Crying out is a way for God’s children to express trust in the Lord’s ability and willingness to help.  By calling upon Him, with such urgency, we also lay down our pride and any attitude of self-sufficiency.

 

The Word of God assures us that our Father hears our cries and responds.  When we call aloud for help in Jesus’ name, we invite His power into the situation.  Remember that there is just strength in speaking His name.  We can always count on His comfort and presence, which enable us to live with hope and peace.

 

Prayer—Father I thank You that You are an ever present Help in time of trouble, and that I can cry out to You and You will hear my cry and deliver me, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.