In the ditch?

God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together. (Psalm 22:18-19)

Have you ever needed to be rescued? I remember running off the side of the road on a snowy day and needing someone to help me get my car back up onto the roadway. It took some pushing and pulling, a whole lot of wheel spinning, and a bunch of strength, but we finally did it. When life gets you in the ditch, what do you do? I was fortunate enough to have a couple of kind guys stop on their way to work, willing to get thigh high into the snow, and with a whole lot more muscle than I had. Sometimes we just need to utilize a strength not our own, with know-how better than ours, and see what can happen when we do!

What does respect for God mean? I think it is a combination of us giving up the right to control everything in our lives and then being willing to do what he says, when he says it, as he says it. We might not always have the right answers - although we think if we just remain in control of the circumstances long enough, we will muster through. On the side of the road that day, I wasn't 'mustering through' on my own. I needed the strength and know-how of others to help me out of a real mess. God stands at the ready, but we need to give him the lead and step back. We cannot always demand our own way - relying on our own plans to get us through.

It also means we spend our lives looking to him - turning our attention from all the distracting influences around us toward him. Leaning into his love requires us to be present in the moment, not just when the urge hits us. We need to be ready to serve - just as he is ready to rescue. We might think we don't have what it takes to do what he asks but remember one important fact - God never asks us to do anything that he is not willing to equip us to do. That said, respect for God involves us being willing to be equipped. That means we might have to lay down a few of our own 'self-invented plans' and take up the ones he has for us. 

In the end, the promise is quite clear - he keeps our body and soul together. In other words, when we lean into him, allowing him control of our lives, he isn't just there to 'rescue us', he is there to keep us from running of the road in the first place! Just sayin!