The Rescuer

The older I get the more I realize that God is the rescuer. For those of us who have soft hearts this can be a difficult concept to fully embrace. We see people in pain and we want to help them..it seems so right.. doesn’t it? We know things that will help them and we may be able to see their path so clearly. Shouldn’t we do everything we can to make sure they are OK? Well..there is no easy answer to that question.

I’ve been learning a few lessons in this area lately. My good desire to help others sometimes does the opposite. God is at work and His ways are not mine. When I see people suffering I want to help them ..it’s a gut reaction. They are suffering for a reason..this may be their season to learn some important lessons. The most important one is the same for all of us..God is with us. When we are hurting there is a greater chance we will  see our need for Him and reach out for those everlasting arms.

Our world is focused on relieving pain. So many things are available..drugs and alcohol are the most obvious. We also escape in less obvious ways..busyness..television..the internet..shopping..the list is long. Pain is there for a reason..God is not the author of pain..but He is the one that can rescue us and those we love. He waits for us to reach out to Him and to need Him desperately.

 All of this does not mean that I don’t believe in helping others..I work as a counselor.. I see the need for human helpers. But ultimately I need to remember that God is the one who will deliver, rescue, and heal. All we can do is point the way..pray and keep believing that He is going to come through for others in the same way He has for us!

 The Lord says ” I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me. I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.”

A year ago

Last spring I wrote about my mom and how she suffered a femur fracture that changed everything for her and for me. It is hard to believe that a year has passed..she is still with us..unable to walk..and in a wheelchair..almost blind. I grapple with all the feelings that her life triggers in me. I don’t want to end up like her..my own mortality is always before me..the aging process is more real than it ever was. I wonder how long she will hang on.

We don’t face death in our culture..we avoid it and we run from it. We act like it won’t happen to us or to anyone we love..and then it does. No one can escape the inevitability of it all. We were not created  to embrace it..it is terribly painful and our hearts break..we never get used to the idea of it..we are all afraid..even if we live in denial. I’m sure that Mom is afraid but she won’t talk about it..it is still too hard..even at 89. As for me..I’ve been close to it many times..no, I am not used to it either. The only thing that stands between me and all that fear of the unknown is the certainty of God. I won’t be alone..He will be with me..and with you and with my mom.

Are you afraid? Is your heart weighed down by things that you cannot control? Is someone close to you suffering? Are you? I don’t have all the answers for you..no one does. Our hope has to be in the sovereignty of our God.. In His goodness..His amazing faithfulness..His life in us..His promises and His grace. He is reaching out to us and promising to take us all the way to the end of our lives here and into the new place He has prepared for us.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Pain

Even typing this word isn’t easy. Pain scares me.. I fear staying in pain..experiencing more pain..not getting relief from pain. Yet much of my life has been filled with pain..emotional and physical. God works through the pain and suffering of this life. He speaks to us through our pain. We want it to be gone..we will do almost anything to get rid of it. The drug industry is prospering because we don’t want to feel pain. We want to numb ourselves and find a way out. Are we missing something?

God uses pain in our lives to get my attention. It causes us to stop and turn to Him..to desire desperately to hear from Him. Without pain we can just continue on my merry way without realizing that He is after something. He stops us in our tracks. We want the pain to go away..He wants to use it to bring something to the surface that is hidden. Emotional and physical pain can be connected. Buried emotions are stored in our bodies..buried alive. They are clamoring for attention.. God wants to dig them up so we can be free. It sounds terrible but it is not. There is pain involved..but less pain than the pain we feel when they are covered up.

Our present circumstances often trigger old pain..the wound is not healed..it has a band-aid covering it. Let Him open it up..He wants to apply the balm of Gilead and bring healing. Our God is our healer.. He binds up our wounds and restores our broken hearts and bodies. He is reaching out right now..to you..wherever you are. He loves you with an everlasting love..He wants to set you free and take you to a new place.

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”