CRYING HELP DOES NOT MEAN YOU’RE HELPLESS –

After many pilgrims reached the Holy City and stood in the courts of the Temple on their way to worship the God they served, none of them confessed to being perfect. They all knew there were many times they felt hopeless and wondered if it was worth believing and obeying His will. So the compilers of the holy hymn book chose a psalm by David, written as he sat either in the cave of Adullam or the one at En Gedi, trying to deal with the constant hounding of King Saul and his murderous cohorts. While these situations lent themselves to periods of despair, they also offered opportunities for David’s faith to be strengthened and his resolve to be made stronger.

“O LORD Eternal, I’m praying as loud as I can; please hear me as I pour out my heart to You, my LORD Eternal. I won’t hold back; I’ll tell You exactly how I feel and how much distress and grief I feel. For when I can’t take it anymore You know precisely what I’m prone to do, and so does everyone else. That’s why they know just how to sneak up on me and hurt me when I least expect it. I look all around me, but it seems there is no one who cares if I live or die. The walls appear to be closing in on me; and it doesn’t matter to anyone, whether or not I survive. That’s why I’m calling out to You, O LORD Eternal; You are my only hope, my only reason for living. Please hear my sobbing cries, for I feel so dejected. The growing numbers of things bothering me are getting too much for me to handle, so I desperately need Your help, in order to cope. Break the sense of uselessness that I feel so I can worship You for the God You are. When those who live right see this; when they see how graciously You treated me, they will surely rally to my side.” Psalm 142:1-7

Reflection: Years ago, they told the story about a young lady who went to work in a textile mill in the State of North Carolina, U.S.A. As part of her orientation they showed her a sign near her station that read: “When your thread becomes tangled, immediately call the foreman.” Being new on the job, and wanting to show everyone she was more than capable of taking care of any tangled thread, she decided to lean on her years of sewing experience at home. Sure enough, one day her thread became tangled, and so she embarked on untangling it herself, hoping it would make her look like an expert, and at the same time, keep her from looking incompetent by having to call for help. But the more she tried and the longer she worked at it the worse the situation got. But she was determined not to give up, so she tried and tried even harder, but matters worsened even more. Finally, in desperation she rang for the foreman. When he arrived she showed him the knotted mess and said, “I did the very best I could!” Looking at her, the foreman shook his head and exclaimed, “No you didn’t! Your best you could have done was to call me at once as soon as the tangle occurred.” David learned this lesson early in his life. After his spectacular defeat of Goliath, it would be easy for him to depend on his own prowess to get himself out of trouble. But David remembered how many times he needed God’s help to protect his father’s sheep from lions and bears. So he showed no hesitation in calling on his Divine Foreman to come to his aid. This young lady in the textile mill gives us just the opposite view on how to handle problems. While sitting in that damp, cold cave, David knew that if God helped get him out, then God would help him continue his mission. So the next time you find yourself in a situation beyond your ability to control or manage, call out to the One in charge. Telling your family and friends how God got you out of your mess is a lot better than having to tell them how you only made things worse by not asking for God’s help.