Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Have you ever had a bad situation happen? Your anxiety and stress start building up inside. You start panicking, texting and calling friends and family members trying to get ahold of someone to talk to you about this, because it’s very troubling and you're just feeling it starting to overwhelm you.
Not only is it a bad situation, you can't get ahold of anybody to just talk it through, get their advice, share it, or just ask for some help. We have a verse today that encapsulates that feeling, and so I want you to hold on to what you feel like when you're in trouble like that.
It's Psalm chapter 120 and verse 1, it says, “I took my troubles to the Lord. I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer.” Now, one of the most promising things about this verse is you're not alone. If you're feeling alone, please understand right now God is here for you and He loves you deeply. Let's look at this beyond that, and let's look at it through the lens of reality in our lives.
What About Me?
A lot of times we look at this verse and it says, I took my troubles to the Lord. I cried out to Him and He answered my prayer. A lot of times we're high fiving and celebrating. The angels are singing and you're sitting there thinking, wait, I talk to God and He doesn't answer my prayers.
How many of you feel that way? I know I have felt that way many times before, but let's look at this verse in this context. First of all, the psalmist doesn't say in the Psalm exactly how God answered, because get this- right after this verse, Psalm chapter 120 and verse 2, the first words that come up are rescue me, O Lord.
He just got done saying, the Lord answered my prayer. The very next words are, rescue me, O Lord. You could be sitting there scratching your head and wondering, okay, you just celebrated that you took your troubles to the Lord. I cried out to Him and He answered my prayer.
So, how can you turn around and say, rescue me, O Lord? I thought He answered that. That's the amazing thing about the context of what the psalmist is saying, and the beautiful part of what he's trying to communicate.
The Greatest Answer: His Presence
We bring our troubles to the Lord. There are times where it doesn't feel like we have anybody else, no one else in our life, but we turn to Him. The greatest answer that God gives us is His presence. He may not give us the “perfect” answer. He may not light the road ahead of you. He may not tell you everything that's going to transpire and exactly how everything is going to work out beautifully the way you think it should. But, one of the things we know is He answers with His presence.
Imagine if in that troubling time and you're trying to get ahold of everybody and anybody, family or friends, imagine all of a sudden you look and this person that's the wealthiest, the wisest, the most capable for this situation that you're going through all of a sudden walks through the door. Imagine the peace that would overwhelm you.
His presence just showed up. He's the most capable. He's the wisest. Guess what? There's no one on this earth that loves you more than He does. When you're going through troubles, turn it over to Him. Part of celebrating and praising that He is there to celebrate with you in this time is because He's capable and He can take it.
I encourage you to truly turn to Him, even before anyone else, turn to Him. Surrender it to Him. Give Him your troubles. Instead of looking for the answer specifically to everything you're asking, look for His presence. Then you know He's walking with you through it and He's capable. He will be there for you. In that time of trouble, He will teach you things you have never learned before through His presence.
