God...Help!

Posted by Pastor Mike

Have you ever been so distraught you couldn't think straight?

Devastating news reaches your ears...or a harsh criticism...or the reality of a relationship...and the feelings swirl in your head so furiously, you don't know quite how to express them.

Or how to pray...

That's one of the reasons I thank God for the Psalms. Many of these ancient, Spirit-inspired songs are not three tidy verses with a simple refrain. They are raw. Emotional. Gritty.

This week, I began to read the Psalms again. I've only read 5 of the 150, but already the emotions have bled onto the pages of my Bible.

"O LORD, how many are my foes!" (Ps. 3:1)

"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress." (Ps. 4:1)

"O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help." (Ps. 5:1-2)

These are not giddy lyrics. David, the man God used to write these psalms, was exhausted, confused, at wits-end. His prayers begin with an agonizing shout or a despairing cry.

Don't you love that? Not David's pain or his trials, but the fact that God wrote down the heartfelt screams of his faithful people? Without Psalms like this, we would assume our emotional valleys are "sub-Christian" and need to be hidden. But with these Psalms, we feel free to cry out to God in our distress.

Sometimes that distress is caused by others. Lies, unfair criticism, and biting words tear at our hearts and take our free time captive as our thoughts drift back to that bitter place.

Sometimes that distress is caused by ourselves. We reap the drama we have sown with selfish choices and godless decisions.

David, like many of us, dealt with both. His own adultery and murder fractured his family. Later, his son, Absalom, plotted to overthrow his own father. David ran...and he cried out to God as he fled.

As I look at the situations in my life that cause me to cry out in distress, I see both causes. Often, I mess everything up, assuming (for the millionth time) my ways might be a touch wiser than God's. I choose the words to "win" the conversation and deal with the true loss of friendship and trust.

Then, others leverage my imperfections in unfair ways. They forget God's commands as they deal with my sin and they add their own sins against me.

It piles up. And all I can do is cry out to God.

Been there?

The longer I serve as a pastor and the more people I meet, the more I realize--We all got something. We're all dealing with distress in this broken world. Distress in our families. Distress in our own hearts.

But here's what floors me--God is not distressed by the distressed.

I've dealt with distressed and messy people. They are hard. They are slow to change. They make foolish choices. It's nearly impossible to WANT to be with them day after day.

But God is more compassionate than that. "His mercies are new every morning," (Lam. 3). Or, as distressed David boldly wrote, "But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house," (Ps. 5).

In his mercy, God listens. God cares. God interprets our groans and springs into action. The words don't have to be perfect. The prayer doesn't have to be perfect. The person doesn't have to be perfect.

Because God is perfect. And that is enough.

His love is perfect for our broken hearts. His forgiveness is perfect for our broken souls. His plans are perfect for our broken lives.

The Psalms confess that truth. Although many of them begin with trouble, they almost all end in trust. "From the LORD comes deliverance," (Ps. 3:8). "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety," (Ps. 4:8). "Surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield," (Ps. 5:12).

I love that model of prayer: Start with distress. End with deliverance.

Pour out your heart to God. Groan. Sigh. Cry out.

But don't say "Amen" before repeating his promises. He forgives. He saves. He delivers. He will be with us.

Then, by the Holy Spirit's power, you may be distressed, but never in despair.

God bless,

Pastor Mike