Week 22: Psalm 34:17

The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Psalms 34:17-22 (New American Standard Bible)

 

Many apologies promise movers for being late on the promise this week!  Had a pretty trying beginning to the week already!  Fitting that we are going to be moving on Psalm 34:17 this week though, because it's all about crying out to God when we are in need.  I love The Message version of this passage:

Is anyone crying for help?  God is listening, ready to rescue you.  If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.  Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every time.  He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone; not even a finger gets broken.  The wicked commit slow suicide; they waste their lives hating the good.  God pays for each slave's freedom; no one who runs to him loses out.

There's not a whole lot of explaining that needs to be done here.  Are you in trouble?  Are you hurting?  Is your heart broken or your spirit crushed?  THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE A BAD CHRISTIAN!!!  It means you're doing things right.  Satan doesn't attack those already under his power.  In his sermon this week, our Pastor, Scott Estep, said something beautifully on this and I'm going to do my best to paraphrase him: the reason we need Jesus Christ to be our comforter is because we are going to be put in some very uncomfortable situations because of Him.

Christ doesn't call us to cake-walk lives.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer has one of my favorite quotes of all time, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."  So now you're thinking, "Your pretty sick Jeremy, that's just how I want to start out my week."  It's truth though.

Christ calls us to suffer for Him.  He calls us to uncomfortable situations.  He calls us to all of the pain, rejection and humiliation that He experienced to and on the cross.  He doesn't exclude us from any of it.

BUT HE ALSO MAKES IT BEARABLE.

So do you need help today?  Are you struggling this week?  It doesn't matter what it is.  Christ died so that you would be taken care of in His perfection.  After His resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit to us to be our comforter, to guide us, to carry us through all of the struggles - NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE - so that we can stand through it all and find Jesus on the other side.

God doesn't promise us an easy life when we choose to follow Jesus.  He does PROMISE to make our suffering easily bearable though when we give it all to Jesus and allow Him to carry us through it.  So move on it this week.  Give your hurts to Jesus.  Let Him protect you.  Let Him carry you.  He is ALWAYS faithful to His Word!