WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED, DEPRESSED, OR AFRAID, WHERE DO YOU GO FOR RELIEF?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge
and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
(Psalm 91:2)

MEDITATION:
When the stresses of life are pressing in on you and have become
almost unbearable, where do you go for relief? When you have
sadness that overwhelms you, where do you find comfort and
consolation?

When you are feeling down and on the brink of depression (or
perhaps already depressed), where do you go to be lifted up and
filled with a renewed spirit? When you are afraid, where do you
go to gain, or regain courage?

Many psychiatrists say that security is one of the basic needs of
mankind. We all need a ‘safe haven’ we can rely on when things
are difficult. The psalmist understood the importance of having
a reliable source for finding comfort, security and affection. He
described his ‘safe haven’ as follows:
    If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the
    Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no
    disaster will come near your tent. For He will command
    His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
    they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not
    strike your foot against a stone.
    (Psalm 91:9-12)

We may not visibly see angels, but nevertheless God’s promise
of security is real and certain. If it were not so, then it wouldn’t
have been included in His Word of Truth (the bible).

Sometimes we can ‘feel’ the presence of angels and we can be reminded
of their presence through reading God’s Word, the words of a song, the
message in a sermon, and through a close friend or even a stranger. We
might sense their presence through an unusual calming when we are in
the middle of a physical or an emotional storm in our life.

At any rate, God promises that His angels are there to
‘guard us in all our ways’. That includes keeping us on
a righteous path, which means that when we are on a
downward spiral of sin, we need to seek God as our refuge.

ACTION:
A question to ask ourselves:
    – Do I seek God as my refuge in times of trouble or despair?

What does it mean to make Him my refuge? It means I will stay
in contact with Him daily, and I will go to Him in prayer to voice
my concerns openly, honestly and using ‘normal’ language.

We should talk to God as if we are speaking to a friend. It is not
being disrespectful to talk to Him using everyday language. We
wouldn’t say to a friend,
    “Wouldst thou cometh to my house”.
We would say something along the lines of,
    “It is great to see you, why don’t you come by for a visit”.

We also need to listen for God to speak to us. He created us
with two ears and one mouth, so it makes sense that maybe
we should listen more than we talk, doesn’t it? We might be
wondering, “How does God speak to us?”.

Have you ever had someone come to mind that you weren’t even
thinking about and maybe haven’t seen or thought about for a
long time? Why would they suddenly come to mind? God may
be speaking to us because He wants to communicate to that
person through us.

Or, He may want us to pray an intercessory prayer for them. Why
would He want us to pray ‘for’ them? It’s because they may be so
emotionally distraught over something that it has created a struggle
for them to pray for themselves.

It could be some emergency that has their full attention at the moment,
and they haven’t been able to take the time to pray. God promises the
presence of angels, and although we don’t have the status of an angel,
He might be using us in a similar fashion at this time.

We have a decision to make, don’t we? We may not know why someone has
come to mind, but we do know that God may be speaking to us and asking
us to pray for them. He promises that the Holy Spirit will voice our prayers
for us when we want to pray, but are struggling to express our feelings and
concerns. Shouldn’t we be willing to pray intercessory prayers for others?
    In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
    We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the
    Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
    (Romans 8:26)

We might ‘hear’ from God through our thoughts. We may have a
burden and suddenly we have a comforting thought or a solution
come to mind. It could be something new that we haven’t thought
about before, or it could be something that we know but have
overlooked.

Have you ever prayed about something as simple as finding your car
keys? You may have scoured everywhere with no luck, but you went
to a new place, or returned to a place you checked already and there
they were! Was that luck, a coincidence, or God speaking to you in
answer to your prayer?

Have you ever felt a problem was so huge that you were on a fast
track toward depression? However, you suddenly felt less emotional
trauma and an unusual calming of your spirit? Could that be God’s
Spirit saying “peace and calm” to your spirit?

When we seek God as our refuge, we should never forget to thank
Him for Who He is, and the blessings He has given us…especially
His gift of salvation. Sometimes our therapy for a situation might
be, to focus on how much we have been blessed by the Lord. One
thing we can be sure of – thanking God is always a good choice!

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for always being there for me.
When You seem far away, I realize that I have moved away
from You, but You have not moved away from me. Help me
to increase my fellowship with you and to discard all of the
things and attitudes that get in the way of my spending time
with You daily. Show me that anytime I justify not spending
time with You, I am allowing selfishness or worldly things
to create a gap in our relationship. Help me to love You as
much as You love me. Thank You for always being the same,
and reminding me that I can depend on You when I seem to
be in a hopeless situation. Thank You, Jesus, for going to the
cross for my sins and making it possible for me to fellowship
with You and our Heavenly Father.”

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