Tag sin

I love Psalms 37:14:

“When he (man) falls, he shall not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand”.

Did you notice the verse doesn’t say “if”.

Believe it or not, I find some comfort in knowing I will slip, takes a little pressure off.  Not in the “hurling” part but in “the Lord is the One who holds his hand” part.

It means I will always be rescued. It may not be right at the moment I start to slip, but it will always be before I encounter disaster.

 

But what about those who DO fall?

Did God fail to rescue them?

Of course not!!!!

So then, why did it happen?

First of all, God helps those who reach out to Him. We request, God responds. He won’t and doesn’t push himself on anyone. Boy, I wish He did because if that were the case, I would be pleading with Him about some people.

Sadly, it doesn’t work that way.

 

 

There was a point in the Israelite’s history, (more than one I might add) when God removed His assistance because of the flagrant violation of His laws. Their history can be summarized like this: God commanded, they disobeyed, God allowed bad things to happen to them, they repented, God forgave, and then the whole thing happened all over again. Many times.

Sometimes we find ourselves near the pit because of some sin in our lives. Ask God to search your heart and reveal any sin that is getting in the way.

The second reason some people hurl headlong into the pit is that at some level they don’t feel they’re worthy of being rescued. To me, that is truly, truly sad because God is not willing for anyone to suffer.

I think the third reason is that sometimes we may feel we’re falling into a pit, when in fact we aren’t quite there yet. We wonder why God hasn’t stretched out His hand yet.

We want to be rescued when we want to be rescued.

That’s the time we have to remind ourselves that God will not, under any circumstances, allow His children to dash their heads, feet, any part of themselves on the bottom of the abyss. This safety net is promised over and over again but described differently depending on the Bible verse, eagle’s wings, slipping on rocks, the rod and staff, are just a few poetic images God uses to reassure us.

However, there comes a time, when after a lot of rescuing for the same thing, something more might be required of us. When we keep ending up at the edge of that same abyss, God requires our cooperation. He’s rescued us time and again, but now we have to work with God.

But God will make clear when our cooperation is needed. We needn’t sit around and wonder if this is the last time God will come to our aid. As long as our motives are genuine and we are seeking a closer relationship with God, He will rescue.

God loves us deeply enough to encourage us to grow in our faith so as not to keep finding ourselves on the edge.

We may need medication.

We may need counseling.

We made need to change our habits, our thoughts, our words, etc. Cooperation will probably look different for each person depending on the nature of our personal pit.

I encourage you today, especially those of you dealing with depression and anxiety.

Anxiety is one of the worst feelings I know. Some people’s anxiety morphs into obsessive thoughts. when anxiety.  Others, like me, get tongue-tied and feel a crushing heaviness in my chest.  Others feel physical symptoms.

Frankly, I’d rather have a root canal than feel anxious.

Stay connected to God. Continue to learn how and when He speaks. Learn to identify His voice.

In my booklist (see menu) you will find some authors I highly recommend.such as Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Andrew Murray, Beth Moore, Karen Armstrong. I encourage you to check them out.

God bless and I hope you have a good day.

 

The post, “It’s not “if” we fall; it’s “when” we fall”, appeared first here on faithsighanddiy.com.