Calling out for help
Help needed
I, along with many other volunteers, are part of the volunteer scheme to lend a listening ear to people lonely, stressed and overwhelmed with all that is going on during the Covid19 restrictions.
Some of us are blessed with family and friends to talk to in good or bad times. Not everyone is so fortunate. The following words were written by one person to describe how desperate he was feeling:
In my distress when I seemed surrounded I called upon the Lord and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.
The man who wrote these words was David. He was going through a very tough time in his life. He had had a serious run in with his boss – the King. Now he was on the run and facing certain death by an angry mob.
Frightened out of his wits David is hiding in a cave. Feeling that everything is just getting too much for him, in his distress, he cries out to God.
Frightened? Scared? Anxious?
Does what he was feeling ring a bell with you too? The feelings of fear, confusion, helplessness and distress that the Corvid-19 pandemic is causing were emotions that the writer of these words, David, was also experiencing.
In the current situation facing not just this country but the world, I suggest that we take a leaf out of David’s book. How did he get comfort? What did he do when feeling swamped? And how does he face the mess that he finds himself in?
Let me briefly try to answer these questions. I have to tell you that as I am typing these words and investigating this for myself I can feel a sense of peace coming to me and I hope that maybe something I write may help you too.
David recognises that the situation is bigger and more complex than he can deal with on his own so he turns to God for help. So why don’t you try talking to God in your distress too. Tell Him how you are feeling. Let Him know your fears and worries.
Words of Strength
David starts looking outward – not at his problems – but to God and reminding himself of what God has already done to help him and others in times past. If you read the earlier verses in this chapter you will discover that David is reminded about the following qualities of God. David has personal experience of each quality listed. Here’s what I picked out:
My rock: foundation of stability
My fortress: a place of high refuge
My deliverer: a saviour in the evil day
My rock: his strong defence
My shield: a piece of armour for protection
My stronghold: How God is able to help him.
Frightened and vulnerable no more
All of these are military metaphors so they really resonate with David who was a military man and each one, I think you will agree, projects the strength of God. How comforting that must have been to David in his vulnerable and frightened state.
If you are a believer in God why not do as David has done and start listing all the ways and times that God has been there for you in the past. If you are yet to believe why not SMS, talk with or email someone who does believe and ask them why they believe. It might just start you thinking about the role God can play in your life during the crisis.
Finally, what difference did this exercise make to David? Does it change his circumstances? No. BUT what it does do is make David realise that he is not alone in this crisis, David realises God knows and cares to listen. It is this that changes his mental attitude and wellbeing.
If you want to read about the events that led up to this then you can find it in The Bible, in the First Book of Samuel, chapters 18,19 & 23.
I am praying that like David the knowledge that God can hear our cries of distress will bring comfort in these dark times.
