Where Is God? Why hasn't He heard my pleas?!

How many times have you wondered where God was in your distress?  Have you echoed David's words in Psalm 22:1?

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are You so far from helping me, And from the words of my groaning?

You don't hear an immediate answer.  You cry out again.

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;... (Psalm 22:2)

You feel like everyone is getting their answers, but not you.

 They cried to You, and were delivered...  (Psalm 22:5)

Again you plea.

Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. (Psalm 22:11)

You're weak.  You can't face the world on your own.  You need someone, but you can't find someone.  Your prayers are bouncing off the walls.  Face it.  We've all been there.

I think Psalms is probably one of the most relatable books of the Bible.  Why?  Because there is so much in it that we deal with on a daily basis.

Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've read it.  It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in experiencing what I've gone through or am going through.

Take this Psalm for instance.  David was suffering.  And just like most Christians, we plea for someone to ease our suffering, and we beg for someone - God - to help us bear our troubles.  We can't bear them alone, but we don't let go like we should.

When we don't let go, God can't work in our lives.  He can't give us "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding."  (Phil. 4:7)

God doesn't want us to suffer.  Suffering is a curse, brought on by the enemy.  God only deals in blessings.  He wants to help!

Eventually, in that same Psalm, David acknowledges that God "...has not despised nor abhorred the afflictions of the afflicted; Nor has he hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him, He heard." (Psalm 22:24)

He came to his senses and realized that God wasn't the one despising or abhorring him and his people.  God had in fact heard his cries!

Don't let the enemy lie to you and tell you God isn't hearing you.  He is!  You just have to believe He'll help and then receive that help.  He's there for you to bear your burdens.  You just have to let Him. 

The world doesn't have to weigh on your shoulders.  God's there, like He always has been.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11: 29, 30)

Have a Little Trust - Why is trusting so hard to do?

Learning to trust is possibly one of the hardest things to do.  I have trust issues.  I don't want to open myself up to the heartache that sometimes come along with trusting people.  But, what good does it do to keep myself from trusting others?  To keep myself from loving because in order to love you have to trust.  And God, well, He wants us to love everyone - even our enemies. So, do we have to trust to love?  I'm not sure, but why test it?

Opening myself up to trusting others has been a continuous battle, because once I finally let someone see the real me, I fear the worst - rejection, heartache - and it's happened to me before.  Over and over and over again.  But do you know what?  The one person who doesn't reject me or cause me heart to ache is God.

So why do I have a hard time trusting Him when all He has ever done is help me out, lead me where I need to be, and given me everything that I've ever needed?  It's because I'm human.  We want to take things into our own hands.  We want to worry about everything, and from that worrying, we want to fix it ourselves.  But, we can't fix it ourselves.  We have to learn to give it over to God.

Psalm 62:8 (NKJV) says, "Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.  Selah."

God is our refuge.  He will take us into His arms, and He will make sure that nothing bad harms us.  Strong's Concordance says that "refuge" means "a shelter (literally or figuratively):  - hope (place of) refuge shelter trust"

That tells us that God will be our place of hope, a shelter from danger.  So, if He is this for us, why can't we trust that He will always be this for us?  Why in times of distress do we turn away from God and try to "fix it" ourselves?

Proverbs 30:5 (NKJV) tells us that "Every word of God is pure.  He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."

"Every word of God is pure"  In my MacArthur study Bible, the note on the word "pure" says that it "literally means 'tried,' and found to be without dross or error."  Strong's Concordance says the same thing.  That the word "pure" meant that it was refined and tested to purge away.

So, God's word is pure.  That means that what He says is without error, so if the Bible tells us that He is our refuge and shield, that He will protect us at all times, (Notice it says "Trust in Him at ALL times."), why do we let ourselves DOUBT He will take care of our needs?

Just the other day, I was worried about not having enough money for my bills.  I don't know why I doubted that God wouldn't take care of me, but I did.  Financial burden seems to be something we don't trust God enough in.  Well, I was talking to my dad and mom about it, not asking to borrow money, but having problems trusting that the money was there.  Well, come Sunday, after praying hard about that, I got an email saying that I had received some money through ebay.

This is just one example of how God has shielded me from financial burden, yet each time it looks like things are getting tough, I don't TRUST HIM.  Why?  Why do I not trust the God who has given me everything no matter how many stupid mistakes I make?  His love and protection is without fail.  Why does that not stick with me?

Isaiah 26:4 (NKJV) says, "Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength."

That "everlasting strength" according to my MacArthur study Bible means "Rock of Ages," and that means, "a rocky cliff where the trusting one may find shelter from attackers."

When we feel like we're under attack or when we feel like nothing could get worse and then it seems like it does, God is where we need to be.  We need to find our "everlasting strength," our "Rock of Ages," our "shield."  God hasn't moved.  God is the "same yesterday, today and forever."  Our trust should be in the Lord.  He knows our past; He knows our future.  And unlike us, He knows what is actually best for us.

I'll leave you with this final word from Proverbs 3: 5, 6 (NKJV)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path."

God will show us where we need to be.  We just have to trust Him, no matter how hard it is.