May 2 - Psalm 81:7

In distress you called,

and I rescued you.

Psalm 81:7

You probably guessed, but this is God speaking: “In distress you called, and I rescued you.”

Reflecting on God’s saving grace while Israel was Egypt, the Psalmist records God’s compassionate message to them. Because God is consistent, this is God’s persistent message to each of us too: “In distress you called, and I rescued you.”

But … does God always rescue when we’re in distress?

How many of us have ceased to really pray boldly and confidently because once we put everything into a prayer, and God (apparently) didn’t come through. We couch our expectations with clichés like, “Well, sometimes he says ‘wait’ and sometimes he says ‘no.’” But doesn’t the lack of our desired response on our desired timetable leave us doubting God – sometimes and at least a little?  

Other times, doesn’t the lack of our desired response leave us doubting ourselves? “What’s wrong with me that God doesn’t answer me?”

The key word in this passage is distress. The problem is that sometimes we use it too casually. “I’m distressed when my favorite team loses a game.” “I’m distressed when my car is overdue for an oil change, and I don’t have time to do it.” We over-use it … and thus deflate it.

The distress that scripture talks about it is true distress. It’s coming completely to the end of ourselves – the end of our capabilities – and turning the situation totally, totally, totally over to God.

When I pray for most problems, I’m still totally seeking my own solutions. But when we turn everything totally over to God, we’re admitting our ultimate helplessness. We’re humbling ourselves. We’re totally submitting. We’re totally trusting. We’re totally getting out of the way. And we’re totally prepared to look and listen for him.

Totally getting out of the way and totally tuning into his will begins to align our prayers with his purposes. And suddenly our requests align with his desires. And when our desires align with his desires, the rescue – while occasionally defined differently – begins to happen. We’re rescued, not because we’re getting our desire, we’re rescued because we’re embracing God’s plan, purposes, and providence.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s distressed about

being too easily distressed