The Plumbline

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. (Psalm 59:16) Where do you turn when you are in distress? Do you veg out in front of the TV, streaming this or that in the hopes you can take your mind off whatever is causing all the stress? Do you head to the fridge or scour the cupboards to find another snack? Do you go online to buy one more thing you really won't use all that much? What we do in our times of stress and where it is we turn when we need to 'destress' is very important for us to recognize. It could show us just how much we depend upon what 'we' can do rather than what God wants to do. Things will always be there that give us great pain, anxiety, or sorrow. It is part of life to deal with this kind of stuff. The acute physical or mental anguish the stressful thing causes isn't meant to be dealt with on our own, though. W...

Let all who fear the Lord repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.” In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:4-6) The more we interact with people around us, the more we realize it is almost impossible to please everyone. There will always be someone in the group who thinks differently, opposing every move we make. What do we do when we face opposition? If you are like me, you get a little distressed by the resistance at times. You might want to just pull in like a snail inside its shell, but that doesn't solve the issue, does it? I have learned to take my distress to the only one who can 'de-stress' it - God. I bring the issue to him, but I also bring the 'players' in the issue - including me! There are times when my attitude is the one needing adjustment, while it is the attitude of others that needs it at others. Who am I to judge whi...

You cried out to Me,  I heard  your  distress , and I delivered you; I answered you from the secret place, where clouds  of thunder  roll .  (Psalm 81:7 VOICE) Distress is the condition of great pain, anxiety, or sorrow.  It can be real or imagined - acute or chronic.  It have both physical and mental aspects.  The extent to which one experiences distress has the potential to also be the extent to which one experiences God's deliverance and grace!  " The darkest day, if you live till tomorrow, will have passed away ."  (William Cowper)  Much can be said about the dawning of a new day and the potential it brings, but even the brightest of days can be overshadowed by the greatest of distress. If you ever wondered why those who are in distress send out the "S.O.S" signal, it may because in those places of our darkest hours we experience the depth of longing for someone to simply "save our souls".  We cannot do it ourselve...

Distress is any great pain or sorrow which weighs us down and almost keeps us from moving as we should.  It could be some element of physical suffering, or some mental anguish.  Some call it "trouble", while others use a more sophisticated term like "affliction" or "tribulation".  Either way, it is junk we don't want to have to deal with, but somehow it always manages to find us. In wartime movies, you might see a plane billowing black smoke, pilot frantically attempting to send out a distress call indicating his location as he plummets to the earth.  The call is something of a plea for someone to notice he is "going down" in hopes he might be rescued at some point if he survives this horrific event.  I think there are times we view distress almost in a similar way - as if we were "going down" - so we cry out, hoping someone, anyone will notice us and come to our rescue.    Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us aro...

  10 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.   11-12 And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart.  (2 Corinthians 7:10-12) Paul knew that his letter to the Corinthian church, encountering their lackadaisical approach to sin in their midst, caused them some "distress".  That is often the case when sin is encountered in our lives - we find some discomfort in the exposure and we feel "distressed".  Distress is often described as that which causes us pain, anxiety, and often sorrow.  For that reason, we all have a dread ...