Psalm 86:11-17
Teach me to follow you,
and I will obey your truth.
Always keep me faithful.
With all my heart I thank you.
I praise you, Lord God.
Your love for me is so great
that you protected me
from death and the grave.
Proud and violent enemies,
who don’t care about you,
have ganged up to attack
and kill me.
But you, the Lord God,
are kind and merciful.
You don’t easily get angry,
and your love
can always be trusted.
I serve you, Lord,
and I am the child
of one of your servants.
Look on me with kindness.
Make me strong and save me.
Show that you approve of me!
Then my hateful enemies
will feel like fools,
because you have helped
and comforted me.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
All around us, people are hurting. Even faith-filled Christians who trust God completely have a bad day now and again. A dear friend of mine who has suffered great losses in the last year – including the deaths of her husband, her brother, and her beloved cat – lost her little dog over the weekend. The father of my cousin’s wife died suddenly a few weeks ago. A few days after his burial, she had to undergo major surgery. She has experienced other “stressors” in recent weeks…and yesterday, she was overwhelmed with emotion and could not stop crying. Now she has a migraine. Both of these women are incredibly strong in their Christian faith…but “life” and the devil’s “violent enemies” have ganged up on them.
I’ve said it before, but Satan often goes after those who are securely in God’s camp even more stringently than those who are filled with sin. It’s like he figures that he has the latter group already…but he can’t stand to think he is losing a single soul to God’s Kingdom. So he hits Christians pretty hard sometimes. And that is when they need our prayers, our encouragement, and our strength to fight back and keep him on the run.
As Christians who believe what David says in this Psalm, we know that God can always be trusted…that He is kind, merciful, and working non-stop to strengthen and protect us. Still, there are days when we are discouraged…frustrated...when we have a weak moment and fall to our knees in despair. And that is when other believers must step in…with love, mercy, grace, compassion, prayers and encouragement. We must be on the lookout for those among us who are in great need of our support – whether they appear to be faith-filled believers or the worst sinner we can imagine! We must reach out to them in the name of Jesus, remembering how He became accessible to the least of those among us – and offered hope, a better way…and a new life in Him.
Look around. Who needs you today? Where is Satan’s gang of enemies bearing down on someone? How can you help? Can you offer a prayer…a helping hand…a shoulder to cry on…or a rally cry of “Beat it, Devil!”? Can you share with someone how God has helped you through a similar situation…how He met your needs even when you felt like everything was hopeless? Because if we are honest…we’ve all “been there, done that”!
So what are you waiting for? Who’s waiting on you to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their life today? Isn’t it time you got to work?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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