Up against the wall?

Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn; then I called out to God for help: “Please, God!” I cried out. “Save my life!” God is gracious—it is he who makes things right, our most compassionate God. God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me. (Psalm 116:4-6 MSG)

If you don't know which way to turn, God is right there. If you need answers, God is ready to answer. If you are feeling powerless, God's strong right hand is there to defend you. If you are discouraged by life's hardships, God is there to comfort and bring hope. Up against it? Call out to God and your help is right there when and where you need it most. Does his help always come in the ways we imagined? I have learned that the answer to that one is, "Not always - perhaps not usually." God's answers come in varying forms, but they are always there!

God is a gracious and loving Savior - he knows how to 'make things right' in our lives, beginning with the salvation of our sinful souls. The sooner we see he is 'on our side' and not opposed to us, the sooner we will realize when our courage fails, his strength begins. The end of one's rope isn't a great place to be until you realize it is where we jump off and land fully inside his arms. The longer we hold onto our 'rope' of misery, regret, fear, hopelessness, or angst, the fatigue will about do us in. We aren't meant to dangle at the end of that rope forever. We aren't capable of climbing back up to the top, either. Our strength has waned and we need the strength of one more powerful and stronger than us to lift us to safety.

God takes our side - not the one that is rebellious and stubborn, wanting our own way. He doesn't give into us like a parent gives into a spoiled child. He takes our side - to fight on our behalf when all our strength is gone and our trust is finally fully focused on him. The end of that rope is the beginning of a fresh hope. We see ourselves as helpless and perhaps even hopeless. God sees that as the perfect time to show us who is on our side - JESUS. The ability to 'make things right' might not seem impossible to us, but will our 'solution' to whatever it is that has us at the end of our ropes really be the best?

We frequently get ourselves into places and circumstances that seem to 'box us in'. We don't always know which way to turn to get ourselves free from whatever that is, do we? We might put on a happy face and say all of life is fine, but deep inside we are falling deeper and deeper into helplessness. It amazes me how reluctant we are to admit that our human reasoning and physical strength is far less important than knowing what God wants us to do and when he wants us to do it. We might just feel a little less 'up against it' if we'd take the time to realize God is on our side even before we take the first step in the direction he lays out before us. It may seem a little intimidating to trust him with our first step, but the longer we take one step right after another in the direction he points us toward, the more encouraged we will be in our walk with him! Just sayin!