Our Ever Present Help in Trouble!

It was May of 2010.  My husband, Steve, and I just sat facing one another in a type of shocked stillness.  We'd just received the report that his PSA was elevated - again!  And I was only days away from surgery to correct a severe spinal cord compression in my neck; the description from one of my physicians was that my spinal cord looked like "a twisted garden hose".  So when we received his news, we just sat staring at one another.  What now?  The potential of what we were facing at that immediate time seemed overwhelming....surgery for both of us....now? 
I can't tell you that we calmly looked at each other; joining hands for a time of prayerful eloquence.  No, instead it was a Jesus "Help!" moment.  And in the twinkling of an eye, as the Holy Spirit gave it to me in an instant, I asked Steve to grab his Bible which sat next to his chair and turn to Psalm 57.  We had absolutely no idea what this Psalm said, but God did!
Psalm 57:1 "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!  For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by."
This was most certainly a prayer of desperation!  The very exclamation marks themselves accentuated the intense need expressed in this prayer! 
Our hearts rejoiced at the compassion expressed to us by the Lord in such a suddenly.  Oh God!  Your goodness and your mercies fail not!  They are new every morning!  Our hearts were comforted in a nanosecond by God's goodness.  God renewed our confidence for the days ahead.....
And then it hit me - alone - in the stillness of the night...the time when our most pressing fears come upon us.......about three - five days before my spinal cord surgery....I became overcome with fear in the middle of the night.  Steve lay asleep by my side.  The seriousness of my approaching surgery put me into full panic mode.  My thoughts raced and swirled into a collage of scenes, and I just lie there rehearsing my funeral; seeing my husband and sons....I didn't even pray.  I was just plain scared spitless!
But all of a sudden, with absolutely no conscious intent on my part, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: "Psalm 118!"  
The Holy Spirit spoke with such a command in His voice to get up and read the Word He'd given me.  I had no conscious remembrance of Psalm 118 and wondered what this might be.  I felt my heart jump with anticipation.....Padding out to the living room and opening my Bible, I read the Lord's reassurance that His mercies endure forever and further encouragement not to fear.  I just felt in my heart...."yes..yes...yes" as I read along.

But then, there it was, verse 17!  "I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord."  Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!  There is was!  The reason the Lord got me up!  He knew my anxieties and calmed all my fears!  He answered a prayer....but it was not I who did the praying.  He did!  Jesus was praying for me when I was just an emotional wreck!  He ever lives to make intercession for the saints before the throne of God!
Dear Reader, This is Jesus.  His mercies and compassions they fail not; for they are new every morning.  He doesn't run out of mercy and compassion like we do....His are endless.  He is no respecter of persons.  He does not leave us, nor forsake us....even when we have nothing to offer Him, but this lump of clay in which we live.
Ps. 103:14 says, "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." 
And aren't we thankful for that?!  He remembers that He made us out of dust.  Jesus came to the earth and lived in a human body and He knows what it is like to face the things we face and to walk through the things we do.
Ps. 46:1 states, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
O Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!
Life just hits us and many are dealing with all sorts of troubles.  And truth be known, there are those times when we just feel helpless to pray.  But the Lord would say to you this day to, "Take heart, dear one, because there is One Who knows all your needs and His Name is Jesus Christ.   Look up, for Your Deliverer draws nigh!"
But before we go, let's pray, "Lord, I come before Your Throne of grace and mercy; before Your mercy seat, to find help in time of trouble.  You know my thoughts.  You know my anxieties and my fears.  Right now, I choose to cast them upon You for You care for me.  Thank You that You are with me always and You never leave me nor forsake me.  Thank You that You remember You made me out of dust.  Thank You that Your Holy Spirit resides within me through Jesus Christ, My Lord and Savior, and that even now, You are interceding before the Throne of God the Father on my behalf.  Thank You that when I don't see the solution, You do.  Thank You for Your mercy, grace and compassion upon me in my time of need to relieve all my fears.  And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  Thank You, Jesus....Thank You.  Amen."
Love and blessings always,
Crista