We have a God who listens to us and answers us every time we call upon His name. The Psalm for our meditation today teaches us that when we are hit hard by the troubles of this life, we have a God who hears our cry. When the tides of distress hit hard on people, they can either drown in them or rise above them. A child of God can learn to rise above such situations, as long as his trust is in God and His Word which endures forever. 

When we go through dark and difficult times, we cry out to God to intervene but sometimes we are met with silence, with no sign of deliverance. We wonder why God is silent and tend to cry out louder.  God in fact, always wants us to pour out our hearts to Him. God is waiting to hear from us and He does hear our prayers and wants us to give us the things we need. Psalm 34:15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.” 

When a situation comes across our life where we are unable to find a solution by ourselves, when the situation is so desperate, we cry out to God. This is the point in life when we totally and unconditionally surrender to God and acknowledge our helplessness and weaknesses. If there is sin in us, we need to seek His forgiveness and cleansing. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”  If ever we think that we need God’s help with only the hard things in life, we need to remind ourselves of what Jesus said: “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Job was a man whom God considered the most blameless and upright man on earth at the time and yet the words he spoke in his terrible afflictions were disheartening (Job 30:20-21). There have been times in our lives as well where we cry out to God and see nothing change. We feel that God is not hearing us but we must understand that our feelings are not true. Throughout Scriptures we see a God who hears and answers! We see a God who answered David in his distress calls, a God who helped Moses, Elijah and many others who cried out to Him. Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46). God was not hiding His face from Jesus. He hid his face away from the sin of mankind which Jesus bore on Himself; but raised His Son to life and eternal glory. If at all, we feel like God has turned away, it is time to look into ourselves, to see if there is any iniquity, any lingering sin in our lives. If so repent and urn back to Him; if not, wait patiently for His deliverance. God will cause His glory to shine upon you, over all the circumstances in your life. 

God knows what is best for our lives. He may not answer the way we want or how we think is right. We may at times not understand or agree with His responses, but we can trust that it will bring forth His glory and our ultimate good. Painful moments in life can help us learn Christ-likeness and glorify God with our words and actions even through our suffering may be intense. We can trust that God will always respond to the cries for help in accordance to His good and perfect will and that which works for the good of those who love Him!

A Word of Encouragement:

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.”

(Isaiah 59:1)