July
28, 2003
CALL
UPON ME IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE
"Call
upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you
shall glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15, NKJV).
God invites
us to call on Him when threatened, discouraged, perplexed
and in need. He encourages us to be instant in prayer. As
soon as difficulties arise, we are to come to Him with our
sincere, earnest requests. By our urgent and persistent prayers
we give evidence of our confidence in Him. The sense of our
need leads us to pray earnestly and our heavenly Father is
moved by our supplications.
When
discouraged and it seems that the world or someone significant
to us is against us, we often are tempted to think that God
has forsaken or abandoned us. At such times make your requests
known to God in prayer and trust Him for His guidance. Do
not violate your conscience. Do what is right to the best
of your knowledge and as you look back on the situation, sometimes
years later, you will see that God has not forsaken or abandoned
you. He has helped you through difficult times. He who has
suffered in our behalf, and has born our sorrows and afflictions,
has not forsaken us.
All who
are afflicted or unjustly treated, lay your burdens at the
feet of Jesus. Turn away from those whose hearts are as steel,
and make your requests known to your Creator and the One who
loves you. Never is one repulsed who comes to God with a sincere
and contrite heart. Our requests to God may be inaudible to
any human ear, but they reach the throne of the Monarch of
the universe. Our petitions rise above the noise of the street,
above the confusion of the crowds to the courts of heaven.
It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.
"You
who feel the most unworthy, fear not to commit your case to
God. When He gave Himself in Christ for the sin of the world,
He undertook the case of every soul. 'He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things?' (Romans 8:32).
Will He not fulfill the gracious word given for our encouragement
and strength?
"Christ
desires nothing so much as to redeem His heritage from the
dominion of Satan. But before we are delivered from Satan's
power without, we must be delivered from his power within...
There is no danger that the Lord will neglect the prayers
of His people. The danger is that in temptation and trial
they will become discouraged, and fail to persevere in prayer"
(Christ's Object Lessons, p. 174).
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