Whenever I Call You

ON THE DAY I CALLED YOU ANSWERED ME, YOU INCREASED MY STRENGTH OF SOUL. Psalm 138.3.

Often my devotionals come out of my own meditations and they reflect my experiences of God. I am not writing it for ‘writing-sake’. Neither is it a mere endeavour to 'produce' or teach others something. The daily devotionals come out of the hot furnace of my ordinary experiences of the ups and downs of life, which are very much like yours! I trust and pray that my experiences of God may continue and be shared with others as long as He grants me life and strength.

In your ‘good times’, you have the tendency to enjoy it by yourself. You forget to let even God share such times! At such seasons you feel you can manage things yourself. The need for God is not present. Hence you do not experience God!

It is in the dark valleys and deep shadows of life that one meets with God. There you are afraid. You cannot see clearly. You feel helpless and even lonely. You have to turn to God. You realise that He alone can help! The deeper the darkness, the more you seek God. When you are really in the shadows that threaten your very existence, seeking God turns desperate. Prayer assumes a greater importance. Importunity replaces the casual prayer routine. The ‘bless me and mine’ stuff will not do! The situation is desperate and your call to God also has to be desperate!

King David was in such a state when he penned this psalm. Hear him say, “On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul”. It was not a mere prayer or ordinary cry. There was no more strength left in him to face his situation. Life was impossible. He could not exist or continue in that circumstance. He knew that strength, help and deliverance had to come from the Lord God Almighty and no other sources which he called, ‘gods!’

Have your ever come to such a situation? Are you in a situation like that presently? I find myself in such predicaments now and again. I feel the need for God and His help acutely. It makes me turn to Him with all my heart, soul, mind, body and strength! Have you ever thought how you and I could ever turn to God and love Him with our whole being, as He requires in the very first commandment? To some it is a puzzle; an impossibility! It will never be in valley of shadow of death!

It is adversity that draws you near to God. The greater its heat and pressure, the nearer you draw to the Lord. Suddenly, you who could make no time for God in prayer or Bible reading, find hours to cry to Him! Whereas you couldn’t delay or skip one meal in order to prepare yourself to meet God, now you are ready to fast and pray! That is what distresses and disappointments are meant to do! Dear saint, learn from King David. Be like him. Delight yourself in the Lord. He will not only hear you and answer you but He will give you the desires of your heart which you haven’t even uttered aloud!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I need You. I cry to You. I thank You for You will hear my cry and answer me, just as You heard David. Amen.