Saturday August 22, 2020

Psalm 107 28-32
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

Sometimes distress is all we’ve got.

When to enter a relationship God we must understand it is not an equal partnership. God is always God and we are usually in trouble, at the very least seemingly at the mercy of the winds and waves of this world.

We can feel helpless because it many ways we are. It is the human condition. Control is an illusion. As I have often said, “We meet God most clearly at the point of our Limitations”. Because it is there where faith kicks in and we encounter God’s faithfulness. Trust is the operative word, trusting a God who has proven to be trustworthy. Part of the story of many Psalms, this one included, is remembering God’s past faithful acts as a foundation for an assured future.

When the people of Israel did not know what to do, there seemed to be no answers, when a solution was beyond their ability, “they cried out the lord in their trouble”. Not only did they go the place where miracles happen, they recognized, as we must, that without God we are always in trouble. We sin, God forgives, we hurt, God helps, we cry, God wipes the tears away, we die, God raises the dead. This is the good news of the Church,

‘You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:6-8

Now that’s good news isn’t it. Before any of us were born Jesus gave His life for us. The only thing it had to do with us is manifesting God’s love, God’s value of us. The value of anything is based on what someone is willing to pay for it. God paid the highest cost of all, His only, sinless, begotten son. In this act God proves everything, gives everything, promises everything, assures everything. “The Waves of the sea were hushed” as the Psalmists writes. All they had was distress and the willingness to cry out to God.

Sometimes, if not all the time, distress is all we’ve got. The promise here is that God has us. This is the assurance of faith and why I am a Christian. We cry out, so often all we can do, God calms the storm, something He has proven in Christ that He will do.

God, we cry out to you in our trouble. We offer you our distress. We give to you the storm. We give your ourselves. Thank you for your promise to still the storm, hush the seas, and calm the waves. Thank you for your promise to guide us into your purpose for our lives. We give you thanks for your unfailing love, your wonderful deeds, and exalt your name.
In Jesus name. Amen