Saturday, February 16, 2013

By: Gwen Hitt

God - Help Me!

Psalm 86: 6   "Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and listen to the cry of my supplications."

Can you imagine how the passengers of the Carnival Triumph have felt this past week? Many desperately in need of a vacation instead faced one of the most horrible experiences of their lives as they were left floating aimlessly at sea with extremely uncomfortable and disgraceful living conditions. I can't relate to that magnitude of distress, but I do know what it's like for a vacation not to turn out as planned.

This past week while on my vacation, I was sure that I was having a heart attack. I was experiencing many of the classic symptoms that women experience when having a heart attack. Because I am married to such a Godly man, my husband did not let me wallow in my fears. Rather, he grabbed my hand and prayed for me. His prayers strengthened me in a way that I can't explain. I agreed with him in prayer, and then I began to pray!

Soon afterwards, all concerns of a heart attack were replaced with the symptoms of a severe case of the stomach flu that ravished my body for three days. My husband had very little sleep BECAUSE he was right by my side helping me and PRAYING for me when I was too weak to even get out of bed on my own.

Of course, I was disappointed because I wasn't supposed to be sick on vacation! Have you ever felt that way? "This shouldn't be happening now...any other time but NOW! This is supposed to be a time of refreshment!" It's sometimes difficult to understand why things happen at certain times but sadly, life happens even when we're "on vacation."

My challenge to you today is to always go to Him in your times of distress and to surround yourself with people of prayer. 1 Peter 5:7 states "Give ALL your worries to Him, because He cares about YOU." This scripture assures me that even in my times of trouble, God cares about me and has not left me out to sea all alone. He will give me the "refreshing" that I so desperately need-a refreshing greater than any vacation could offer.

Dear Lord, I thank You for always being there to provide Your comfort and peace in my time of need. Remove any fear of the possible "what-ifs" and let me be filled with an expectancy of all that You can do in my situation.

I thank You Jesus for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life. In the Name of Jesus I pray.