Little boy, barely old enough to talk. A tiny guy of few words, he was always lovable. The last of three, he was definitely spoiled not only by his parents but by his two older brothers, one by 5 1/2 years the other by 11. He followed them around like a puppy, emulating their every move.
He was everybody’s baby, passed around endlessly at church, fought over by teenage girls way before his time, with little blond curls that were just too hard to resist.
But when exhaustion had set in and he couldn’t take another step, he would melt everyone’s heart with two little words when he would come running up to you, arms open wide like a funnel and say, “Holdju! Holdju!”
Whoever happened to be the recipient of his affection at the time would lean over, scoop him up and immediately that little head would plop on your shoulder. Victory.
He knew where to go, he knew what to do, he even knew what to say.
Hold you.
Do you? Know where to run when exhaustion has taken over your body, your mind and your very soul?
Do you? Know what to do when you cannot take another step, feel like your world is crashing in and even those closest to you can’t help?
Do you? Know what to say, how to cry out for help and be assured of a response?
When we have reached the end of our rope and are so overwhelmed with LIFE, Jesus is just waiting. Waiting for us to give in, to come running and to surrender to Him! He wants to scoop us up in His everlasting arms and give us the comfort, strength and peace that we so desperately need. “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!” Deuteronomy 33:27
Hold you, Jesus? Yes, if we can reach up and call on His name, He will respond.
In the book of 2 Kings 4:1-7 we read of a widow who had been left with much debt after the death of her husband. This was a dark picture of the day that she lived in: a widow struggled to even survive on her own. There was no Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. She relied on family and friends to make ends meet.
This woman had two sons but because of the amount of debt left by her late husband, the creditors were threatening to take her sons as slaves in payment.
She takes her dilemma to the prophet Elisha who immediately asks her what she had in her house and she replied that she only had a small jar of olive oil remaining. Period.
That’s all Elisha needed for his miracle and he instructs her to go borrow from her neighbors as many empty jars as she can get. He even encourages her in her quest by saying, “Don’t ask for just a few.”
Bring back as many as all three of you can carry and then go borrow some more!
The widow and her sons do as they are instructed and Elisha says, “Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” The sons begin to bring her the jars and she starts pouring oil from her original jar into the empty vessels.
When all the jars were full and no more empty ones remained…the oil stopped flowing.
Not one minute too early or too late, it stopped flowing when all the jars were FULL!
This woman could not keep herself. She had exhausted all attempts at paying off the creditors on her own and was in danger of losing the only two things she had left, her sons.
Psalm 50:15. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
Surely she was being whispered about, of course her neighbors questioned what she was to do with so many empty vessels. But her faith in Elisha’s God kept her pressing forward, anticipating a miracle. In so doing, she had plenty of oil to sell to pay off all of her debts AND enough left over for her and her sons to live on. Olive oil was a necessity, used for so much more than just cooking. Its importance and monetary value was not lost to Elisha or his God.
How do you need to be KEPT today?
Is it enough to know that the God of the universe knows where you are, every minute of every day and even the numbers of hair on your very head?
Do we trust Him enough, resting in His promises that He will never leave us or forsake us?
Or do we fret, like normal human beings, that everything is crashing around us and we will soon be defeated?
God wants to show us His keeping power! He loves to love us in the most precarious of situations. And when we rely on Him, trust in Him and get to the point that we KNOW He will be there regardless, we have turned a corner in our relationship. The love of God will keep you even when you feel as if you cannot keep yourself. His strength is perfect and all you need. Let Him overwhelm you today.
So, ask big!! Get plenty of vessels so the Lord can fill them and KEEP you by His might power, no matter your situation.
#FiveMinuteFriday and today’s word prompt is When. I hope you will be free from worry and fear when you pray this prayer and be blessed by the words of the song of the same name. Don’t skip the song!
“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” Psalm 61:2,3.
It is overwhelming to be on this planet Earth at this period in time. Wars and rumors of more wars abound. People are going hungry, even in the wealthiest nation in the world. The terrorism threat is real, it is very real. Violence, anger, civil unrest, are all common every day occurrences all around the world. We can easily be overwhelmed and our heart beats faster, even seems to skip a beat, all because of fear and worry.
When.At what time. Referring to a time or circumstance.
Overwhelmed.Bury or drown beneath a big mass. Defeat completely.
Heart.The central or innermost part of something.
Slave. A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.
Fear and worry consume us until we are crippled. This keeps us from being joyful and from doing the will of God. It is Satan’s most effective weapon. It ties our hands and keeps our mind running in a thousand directions just trying to figure a way out of our situation, whatever it may be. “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'” Romans 8:15.
We belong to Him! We are sons and daughters of the King!
When. But when we turn that fear over to our God, at what time we decide to let it go, we can instantly be free from its grip and its choke hold. Stop what we are doing and take control with the Word of God, turning the enemy on his heels to run like the devil.
Overwhelmed.Whenwe are defeated, completely defeated, seemingly drowning under the heaviest load we could have imagine, we stop. We grab the Word of God and use it as our defense. We call on the Name of Jesus, the only One who can literally save us, and let Him be our defense! Let Him fight our battles, allow the God who created the heavens and the earth to undo the mess, fix the problem, or pick us up and carry us through.
Heart. It is our innermost everything. It carries all of our worries and fears and our happies and sad’s. (I know I made those words up. Yay, me!) When we keep all of these fears and worries bottled up in our hearts they can drag us down and keep us bound.
Slave. Personal property of another, forced to obey. Satan is a master slave driver. It is not the will of God we stay bound to this enemy! The Bible says to “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 NIV. Submit to God first, then resist! Use the Word of God, he has to obey.
So here is a little prayer for you when you decide you are no longer afraid of fear. Pray it outloud, print it out and post it on your fridge!
At what time the innermost part of me is drowning beneath a big mass and I feel completely defeated, lead me to the rock that is higher than I am. You have always been my shelter and a tower, a strong refuge that keeps me safe from the enemy. You have never left me, never forsaken me and even though I feel as if I am being buried alive because of my circumstance, I trust You. I believe all things will work together for my good and even if I cannot see it now, I will not live here forever.
My son introduced me to this amazing song this week. When you listen to it, be forever blessed. I promise it will strengthen you. I’m no longer a slave to fear…
