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Distresses

 

            A song of ascents.

            I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. (Psalm 120:1)

 

          “The world is falling apart!”

          “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

          “Help! Lord, this passage says You’re supposed to answer me in my distress.” I watch my watch for ten seconds. “Why aren’t You answering? You promised.”

          I think we all think things like these sometimes. None of them quite measure up to the distress mentioned in the passage. “Songs of ascents” were a little like whistling by the graveyard or something you might sing when walking through a tough neighborhood in the four hours around midnight (the most dangerous time.) The singers were going through the mountains to reach Jerusalem, and thieves and wild beasts frequented the same roads. The song speaks of a plea for help that has an immediate threat.

          As I look at my various recent and current distresses, some were real, but most weren’t urgent. Regarding the things I seemed most often distressed about, the reality comes down to three factors: I wasn’t getting my way, I wasn’t in control (which is almost the same thing), and I was bored. At the moment of calling, I doubt I’d have admitted that any of these were true, but as I have thought about it today, I have wondered how many times my prayers for help aren’t because I’m not being entertained.

          I’m not going to claim your unanswered distress calls have the same causes, but it might be enlightening to you to ponder why you call on the Lord - what is the source of your distress? 

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