Hello Guys and Gals!
Have you ever prayed that God remove you from this world; take you from this life so that your pain, suffering, depression, loneliness, and misery of life ends? I have!
I know that many of you, my dear friends, are hurting in some way or another right now. Some with the loss of a loved one. Some with the hurtful treatment of those who would be your friends. Some with the pain of separation or divorce from one you love. Some simply because you are hurting. I have been there! I know the pain of each and every one of these things. I know where you are today and where you can be tomorrow.
But I am writing this so that you may have hope! Have you ever read Psalm 23?
Psalm 23
The LORD, the Psalmist's Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the tvalley of the shadow of death,
I fear no tevil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will tdwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Did you know that David wrote this psalm while being pursued by Saul, the father of David's best friend and King of Israel, and David felt as if he had nothing to live for and no hope left in his life! Have you ever felt that? I have!
What I want to focus on is the line 'He restores my soul'! I cannot begin to describe how low I was and how much God has restored my soul to value my life again, to think that my soul is contributing to helping others better their lives, to feeling worthy again in His sight!
Do you know how I started getting help from God? I was just about to stick a needle in my arm once again. The guilt and shame of that overcame me and the Holy Spirit convicted me right there in a bathroom. I prayed that I had not the strength to give up the methamphetamines and life I was living. I told God that if He wanted me out of this life that He would have to do every part of it because I had not the strength or will to even move my head enough to turn around and look behind me at my life before when I was not on meth! It was by His strength, His effort, His might, His will, and His love that I was healed of that!
I encourage each and every one of you to simply pray! Even if you do not have any words, the Holy Spirit will translate your innermost groanings to God so that a clear message of what you are feeling and wanting to say are understood clearly by God so that He will send His son, Jesus Christ to you and help you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring you out of the pain and suffering you are experiencing right now! Jesus will be there for you and carry you when you have no more strength for your journey out of this horrible state you are in right now! That is His promise to you that He will never leave nor forsake you! Think about that word 'forsake'! This means that even should you rebel against Him and do your utmost to get Him to turn from you, he will not forsake you to even your own desire for destruction!
Here is a passage from Psalm 18, also written by David:
4 The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of tungodliness terrified me.
5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
15 Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
This is the might and power of God that comes to rescue you from His throne in Heaven! Know this! Believe this! Trust Him as He saves you!
And if there be any of you who think that He cannot save you, just look at me and how He has transformed me and changed my life for your hope! He can do it and will do it if you only ask Him for help!
God bless you all this day!
