One We Can Cry Out To

"Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer." Psalm 4:1

Stress? We all experience moments of stress. I don't know anyone at all who doesn't, at times, experience the burden of stress. Stress can come at us out of nowhere, and we all have different things that cause us stress. Kids can cause stress, simply be being annoying sometimes. Money certainly causes stress, simply by its nature that there never seems to be enough. Time causes stress for the same reason- we're always up against deadlines and running out of time. Family, marriage, and pets can cause stress. Jobs cause stress, homes cause stress, neighbors cause stress. Really- what doesn't cause stress?

Thankfully, we have one to turn to in times of great stress. It happens to the best of us, all the sudden we find our fuse is very short and that every little thing is making us crazy. We feel confined and squeezed and pressed and stretched in too many directions to count. But God can save us from that feeling. God can lay his hand on our shoulders and give us the peace that passes understanding. He can help us through that time of stress, if we simply call to him and allow him to answer us. Our God is a great God, and a God full of compassion and love. When he sees us struggling, he wants to help us, but most often, he wants us to want his help. And he wants us to know that our help came from him. I remember a song from many years ago that had lyrics that went "my help comes from the Lord, the ruler of everything." Our help comes from the Lord.

Sometimes God answers our cries for help through our struggles by giving us the strength to make it through. And sometimes, God answers our cries by sending someone to us to physically help. Sometimes, we can find ourselves in the midst of miraculous help, as an angel may protect us from harm. Sometimes the help we seek is in the form of encouragement, and God gives us that by revealing words to us in the Bible. There are many ways that God could help us through out stress- but first we need to humble ourselves before him and ask for help. We need to swallow our human pride and admit that we need his help. The best part is that he will answer without fail. He will answer every single time that we call to him. God loves you and me and he wants to help us through out stressful times. Maybe it's time that we let him.