Be My Help!

In response to arrogant religious practices, Jesus said, “But that Tax Collector was standing from a distance and he would not even lift his eyes up to Heaven, but he was smiting on his chest and he said, 'God, have pity on me, a sinner.' “I say to you that this one went down to his house justified rather than that Pharisee, for every man who exalts himself shall be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:13-14, Aramaic Bible in Plain English).

I've heard many testimonies of how God saved an individual in their broken and desperate state. Nearly every time the moment of deliverance started with the fewest of words like help me or God, show yourself to me!

Many or few words does not equate to the measure of help received but what the heart is speaking to the Savior. He alone knows the depths of the human heart and when words fail to express He fully understands the cry for help.

I can recall a time that I spent hours weeping in His presence asking for help after I was diagnosed with a severe illness. At first my cries were pitiful and loathsome. I didn't really want help but a way out so I can continue living just as before.

Then one day I read in Psalms 30:9 that says "What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?" (NIV).

The cry for help pivoted to a deeper cry for God's help that a different story be told. In humility I asked for help to live again that through my life His story is expressed otherwise going down to the pit will silence His greatest opportunity. Some ten years later I continue to live but the cry for help continues - that need to lean and depend on Him - only grows deeper.

There may be someone reading this that you are in a horrible pit. Darkness and fear are choking the life out of you. You feel hounded by memories and the consequences for bad choices that never seem to end. But He is just a whisper away. Say His name Jesus. Jesus! The place where you are will flood with light and so will your heart. Soon the cry for help will flow as easy as the tears that will wash away any pride and self reliance to survive on your own.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help." Psalms 40:1-2 NIV)