A God who Answers
When you are a parent of young children, you are intimately aware of every problem occurring in their lives.
My kids love to bring me their problems. They tell me about every argument, every wrong done to them, every shoe that doesn’t fit, every unkind word said to them.
And I, as their father, try my very best to console them, to fix the issue, and just generally help them. Except when I’m busy, or I don’t understand the problem, or maybe sometimes it just doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But this is not about encouraging fathers to be more helpful (though maybe we do need to hear it).
This is about how we, as children of God, need to be like those children.
God is never too busy. God is never ambivalent to our cries. God will never say ‘No’ when help is asked of Him. Now sometimes that help may not be the very specific help we ask for, like when I didn’t study for my chemistry final and I prayed that the knowledge would just materialize in my brain. But the practice of bringing our problems to God is an eternal part of our faith journey. In today’s world of self-help, self-reliance, pull yourself up by your bootstraps encouragement, we all too often resort to “I’m fine”.
Almost twenty years ago I was beginning basic training down in Georgia, and I had been there for almost a month when one Sunday we were told that we would get to call our families for the first time since arriving. And this particular Sunday just so happened to be my birthday. And though I’m reluctant to admit it now, I was homesick and desperate to talk to my family. I was so excited as I waited in line with the other recruits until it was my turn to call home.
Finally, I stepped to the bank of payphones and the phone rang and rang and rang…. And no one answered. And with tears in my eyes, I ran back to my bunk, trying to hide how upset I was.
When I got back to my bunk I cried out to God and just said give me some encouragement! And I just cracked open my bible without looking and turned immediately to Psalm 46 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” I will never forget God’s presence in that moment. As if He was there wrapping his arms around me in comfort.
And though I have faced many trials and sorrows since then, many so much more impactful and devastating than a missed phone call, I remind myself of the immediacy with which I turned to God in that moment – and how quickly He answered. Sometimes our problems feel so big and insurmountable that it seems pointless to ask for God’s help. Other times our problems seem small and insignificant, so why would we trouble God with something so unimportant?
Just as my children are eager to come to me with every hurt and every difficulty, we too as Christians should and must bring our problems to our Father in Heaven. Sometimes that may take the form of sharing that with our spouse, family member, friend, or mentor. And maybe they will receive the call to bring the issue to God. But God is ready and willing to hear our cries. He will never waver and never turn away from us.
Psalm 124, verse 8: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth.”