Tag cooperating with God

When we fall

I love Psalms 37:14:

“When he (man) falls, he shall not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand”.

Did you notice it doesn’t say “if”.

Believe it or not, I find comfort in knowing I will slip. Not in the “hurling” part but in “the Lord is the One who holds his hand” part.

It means I will always be rescued. It may not be right at the moment I start to slip, but it will always be before I encounter disaster.

But what about those who do fall? Did God not reach out to them? Did He withhold His hand?

Of course not!!!!

But think about it for a minute. How could that happen?

First of all, God only helps those who reach out to Him.  He won’t push himself on anyone. He won’t force his help and many people have refused to accept help when offered because of some twisted form of not wanting to be associated with anything religious.

With God, there are no strings attached to the initial help. However, there comes a time, when after a lot of rescuing for the same thing, something more might be required of us. But God will make that clear when the time is ripe for our cooperation. We needn’t sit around and wonder if this is the last time God will come to our aid. As long as our motives are genuine and we are seeking a closer relationship with God, He will rescue.

There was a point in the Israelite’s  history, more than one, when God removed His assistance because of thier flagrant violation of God’s laws. I don’t mean to add a burden, but sometimes we find ourselves near the pit because of some sin in our lives. Again, just ask your Father, and He will make it clear if sin is an issue.

The second reason some people hurl headlong into the pit, is because at some level they don’t feel they’re worthy of being rescued. To me, that is truly, truly sad because God is not willing for anyone to suffer.

Thirdly, I think sometimes we feel we’re hurling down, when in fact we aren’t there yet. We wonder why God hasn’t stretched out His hand sooner. That’s the time we have to remind ourselves that God will not, under any circumstances, allow His children to dash their heads, feet, any part of themselves on the bottom of the abyss. This safety net is promised over and over again using very different “pictures” of the rescue. Eagle’s wings,

slipping on rocks and not falling in, the rod and staff, etc.

But when we keep ending up at the edge of that same abyss, God requires our cooperation. He’s rescued us time and again, but now we have to work with God.

God loves us deeply enough to encourage us to grow in our faith so as not to keep finding ourselves on the edge. We may need medication, counseling, changing our habits, our thoughts, our words, etc. Cooperation will probably look different for each person depending on what pit is before us.

I encourage you today, especially those of you dealing with depression and anxiety. Anxiety is one of the worst feelings I know. Some people resort to obsessive thoughts when anxiety attacks, others, like me, get tongue-tied, others feel physical symptoms. I’d rather have a migraine than suffer anxiety.

Stay connected to God. Continue to learn how and when He speaks. Learn to identify His voice.

In my lists of books you will find some authors such as Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Andrew Murray, Priscilla Shirer. I encourage you to check them out. They are my mainstay for improving my communication with my Father.

God bless and I hope you have a good day.

ps. Please let me know anytime you need prayer.