Based on Psalm 121 (New King James Version)
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”
I think we can all agree that we live in an imperfect, and sometimes, harsh world. In general, many injustices and pain occurs. For example, there are people that die from hunger every day, including innocent children. The statistics are as follows according to “world hunger statistics” (statisticbrain.com): Each year, 7,665,000 die from hunger. Out of that, 1,250,000 are children. There are about 945,000,000 people that do not have enough to eat daily, including 11% of homes in the US are at risk of hunger. There is hunger basically all over the world.
There are people that die every moment for different reasons. In 2014 in the US alone, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the statistics are as follows: 2,626,418 died that year. 614,348 of those died because of heart problems. 591,699 died because of cancer. 147,101 died because of chronic breathing problems. 136,053 died because of some sort of accident. And the rest died because of stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, influenza or pneumonia, nephritis, nephritic syndrome, or nephrosis. Incredibly enough, 42,773 of those deaths were because of suicide. In other words, almost 5 people per hour committed suicide. 42,773 people in the richest country of the world took their lives because they felt that there only solution was death!
And with all of this, we can include thousands of people in the entire world that have lost their lives due to war (like in Syria where we saw many people brutally murdered because of someone that is power-hungry). Natural disasters have also claimed lives like in Peru and Colombia. Desperation grows incredibly in different countries of the world like in Venezuela because of people in power that have a corrupt mind; or like in Central America because of delinquency, violence, and crime. And to all of this, we can add terrorist attacks like the ones in Russia and Sweden that just happened days ago; and in Egypt more recently, where two Coptic Christian churches were attacked where 43 people lost their lives.
We are surrounded, one way or another, by: death, disaster, hunger, sickness, etc. This is our reality, no matter how many people try to avoid the thought, thinking that if they ignore it, that it will not get to them. And as we can understand; neither money, nor power, nor a stable location, nor youth, nor any other thing can assure us that nothing will happen to us. We need help! Or at least, people with some sort of intellect understand that help is needed (because we are too vulnerable and limited).
The good news is that God offers us help, especially during our moments of need. Now, can God help us with our daily problems? Yes, He can! The Word of God says that He listens to those that love Him and follow Him. The Lord can do great things in our lives and around us. But, does God answer everyone’s prayers as they would like Him to? And the answer is, “no”. God is not a magician, or a genie, or least of all, our servant. Here is where many make the mistake, especially when they look for the Lord because of an interest, or just for the “fish and loaves of bread”. And of course, here is where many lose interest for God, because He does not answer their wishes, or because they don’t get what they want.
The help that the Lord offers goes beyond the material, the physical, and trivial needs. What the Lord tries to affect with His help not only involves the momentary need, but also, the need in the long run, and the eternal. And to be able to understand this, it is necessary to get rid of a superficial and selfish mindset. It is necessary to go far deeper, where values are greatest. Now, do I say this so I can give some sort of air of security to faith, to be able to respond to those that doubt the existence of God, His power, and His omnipotence? Of course not! It is relatively easy for God to do whatever He wants. God can defeat entire armies now, just as He did during Biblical times. If you doubt that, just read recent history about the Six Day War in June 1967. Many people with good understanding call the victory “miraculous”. God can raise the dead, heal cancer and other sicknesses (He healed me and that’s why I’m alive today), provide work, supply needs, deal with hunger, and an unlimited number of other things. There is nothing impossible for Him!
But, what do we gain by only getting our daily problems resolved? Lazarus was raised from the dead by the Lord, but he died yet again. Just like if God healed every sickness, those same people that were healed will one day die because of age. Money will all be consumed someday. And of course, even though there are many things that are blessings here and now, they will finish and/or end at some point, if they belong to the material world. So, what kind of help is truly worthwhile?
The most important help has to do with the soul. God is the only one that can regenerate someone’s soul and life; things that this world or anything in it can never change. And this is what God is most concerned with. And by virtue of having the power to regenerate the internal being of a person through Jesus Christ, many miracles and incredible things can happen. For example, if those 42,773 people that took their lives would have understood and accepted Christ as the Lord of their lives, they would be alive today. The addict can leave their vice, whether it be alcohol or drugs. Families can be healed. If we had Christ’s love, we would feed the hungry, help the widow and the orphan. There would be more peace around us. Our prayers would have more power because we would be united under a similar mindset before the Almighty. Christ’s influence would be incredible if we all looked for Him, obeying His Word. The Lord can be our help! And if we die, so what! God is our sure help in eternity, where we will receive the fruit of our hope: eternal life.
So then, are you looking for the help that can only come from God through Christ? Lord bless! John