God Hears Our Cry

David shouts out: “I cried out to the Lord for help, I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord” (Ps. 76:1-2).

David had a life of pain and heartache and often made this his prayer. It is great that we can call out to God and know that He is always available, that He never turns a deaf ear to us. He is never too busy for us and delights to hear from us at any time. God is omnipresent so He is everywhere at all times. What a comfort to know that we are in His presence at all times and that we can never be away from Him.

David expressed himself openly to God and was in constant danger of King Saul during his early years. After he became king of Israel, he was in constant warfare with the surrounding nations. His children caused him great grief and he experienced times of real heart pain because of their wayward paths. David was often in “distress” and he would turn to God and seek after the Lord. In the Psalms, we find David is often very transparent and upset with his life circumstances, as he expresses his feelings to God. He ultimately turns to God and recognizes that He is the only one that he can trust and rely upon for strength.

All of us will go through difficult times and it is during those times that we can call out to the Lord and know that He cares and understands. In our errant theology we may think that God only cares about the major issues of our life. In reality, God cares about everything and we can seek after Him for comfort and strength. God does not put things into categories of spiritual vs. secular because everything is important to God. We can cry out to God and know that He is listening and cares.

What hardships are you now facing? Are you running to God or are you running from God? This illness has made me call out to God on numerous occasions. There are things that I have never had to deal with before and my health issues are sometimes beyond what I can humanly handle. I have had to face life and death issues with this illness and it has taught me the fragileness of life. Every day is a gift from God and needs to be treasured.

I value things that I took for granted and I have often said that I now see things through a new lense. I have a new appreciation for things that I did not value or had not seen before this illness. I do not question God’s sovereignty but there have been discouraging times that have made life very difficult for me. I have cried out to God and He has never turned a deaf ear to my need. I am so glad that God cares about the small things in my life and also the major issues that I am now facing.

Elisha did many miracles during his ministry in Israel. He healed the sick, raised people from the dead, and stopped invading armies. While he was ministering to the “School of the Prophets” (II Kings 6:1-7), he went down to the Jordan River to assist some of the men as they cut down trees for a new building at the school. One of the men lost an axe head and was worried about how he would replace it. Elisha’s miracle of raising the axe head was pretty insignificant compared to some of his other miracles but it reminds us that God cares about the “axe heads” in our life. “Axe heads” are the trivial things that may seem unimportant and yet they can be just as significant because it shows that God is at work in our life. Those God-sightings can be a great encouragement to us as we see that our God is faithful and dependable at all times.

There is nothing too small for us to “cry out to God” and turn to Him for assistance and help. Will you learn to run to Him for everything? When we fail to do this, it is a form of pride and that will keep us from turning to Him. In reality we are living independent of God and leaning upon our strength when we fail to turn to Him with our needs.

What is God going to use in your life to teach you to be totally dependent upon Him?