Tell Out My Soul

The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7

Let’s think about how important it is to rely on the strength of God to get us through the really tough times that we are likely to encounter on this journey to Jesus. Often we forget that he walks beside us, that he’s there to catch us when we stumble, and that he’s there to lift us up when we are weak from our troubles. Often we feel that we have to sort things out, fix things up and climb over obstacles unaided, and the weight of this responsibility is what kills our spirit and, basically, knocks the stuffings out of us. A wonderful and inspirational member of my congregation (I’ll call him David) described the struggle he had with alcohol addiction and how he tried so hard to overcome this problem, but in the end he felt that it was all too much for him. So David left his struggle in God’s hands and told God, from his heart, “Father God, I can’t do this thing, it’s too big a mountain to climb. I’m leaving it up to you now. Have mercy on me.” And when David was telling me this, the most amazing look of exultation came over his face. I believe him wholeheartedly when he said that from that moment on, his need for alcohol vanished, and he had no trouble in giving it up. The Lord is our strength and we don’t have to face our struggles on our own. All we need to do is throw ourselves into his arms and say, “Father God protect and strengthen me.” God will not let us down.