They Cried Out To The Lord

This devotion is based on Psalm 107:19 and it focuses on our need to cry out to the Lord when we’re afflicted by trouble.

This devotion is part of the Rescued By Faith Devotional Series and it comprises a focus verse, a reflection, questions for meditation and application, and a prayer.

Focus verse

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses.” Psalm 107:19

Devotion

Thank the Lord that He is good and everlasting in love. When we cry out to Him in our trouble, He answers.

Sometimes God answers by delivering us from our troubles instantly. Other times, God doesn’t deliver us from our troubles, but He does give us His grace to withstand them. This latter situation sometimes lasts for a season – weeks, months or even years -, and other times it remains this side of eternity. (A case in point – Paul’s thorn in the flesh.)

Regardless of which, we know God is full of compassion and love, and He does not delight in seeing us suffer (Lamentations 3:33). If we cry out to Him, God will meet us where we are.

 

I know this to be true from experience. When my daughter Priscila was eight months old, we took her to a routine appointment, and the doctor informed us that not only had she not put on any weight since the previous appointment, but that she’d actually lost weight. As a result, the paediatrician told us she would need to undergo blood and urine tests.

Needless to say, we were riddled with anxiety. And we were so for many weeks. But as we turned to God in prayer, He began working in our hearts and He gave us grace in the midst of our doubts.

And then one Sunday at church, something shifted. I turned to God in prayer (again!) and I knew in that moment that Priscila had been healed.

Sure enough in the weeks after, Priscila put on weight and at the next appointment we saw the evidence of God’s healing (we never did found out what the actual problem was). Praise the Lord!

Questions for reflection

• What situations can you recall in your life in which God delivered you from your distress? (Either by giving you grace, or by delivering you from the situation itself)

• What can you learn about God in these situations?

Prayer

Lord, thank You that You don’t delight in seeing me suffer, but you want to release me from my distress. I know this because Your word tells me so. Help me, Lord, to believe in it with all my heart! Lord, please meet me where I am! Deliver me from my distress, I pray! Thank you for Your deliverance. Amen.