All of us has moments when we feel overwhelmed by life. It could be a problem in a relationship, finances, an illness, a friendship that has ended and a multitude of other things. We are fragile fickle people and we struggle with the day to day, but when you struggle where or to whom do you run? Some people go immediately to a spouse, others to a friend still others away to be alone. But there is a place we can go, a someone we can trust to meet us at our need and that is The Lord. We can go sit at his feet and allow him to minister to us.

We are told in Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” Think about it, a strong tower, always there to shelter us when we need it.” It is a place of safety and peace. We can tell the Lord all about our trials and burdens those things that are causing us to feel overwhelmed and when we do his sweet Holy Spirit ministers to us, guides us through the deep waters of our emotions or anxieties. You may think “well I don’t want to go to the Lord about this thing, it seems ridiculous,” well, the Lord already knows what is going on in our hearts and mind better than we do, so run to him and just see what he will do.

In Isaiah we read “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” He is ours and we are his. He loves to hear from his children. Like any good parent, he wants us to come to him when we feel overwhelmed and afraid. He longs to be gracious and kind to us, to walk us through our emotions, to show us a new way, or a new person or place he has for us. He wants to ease our anxious thoughts and to heal us.

We also read in Psalm 9:9-10 “The lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” This verse tells us what we should already know, we are going to feel the struggle of this life. There will be times when we feel oppressed and overwhelmed and it will be no surprise to our Lord; he says to us, “come.” When we do we will discover a new depth of our relationship that we did not have before. We will see that these words written in Exodus and Deuteronomy are so true. Exodus 33:14 “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Aren’t those awesome promises! God is not waiting to zap you when you come to him with a problem or hurt, he is waiting to show you more of himself, to guide you through at the pace you can follow. He is a strong tower, he is ever present with us, he will not fail or forsake us. These are the promises that should motivate our movement in the direction of Jesus when life is too much.

I hope that if you have not made running to Jesus apart of your daily walk then you need to. I encourage you to go to him and see just how good and faithful he is. There is nothing too trivial for the Lord. He delights in hearing from his children and in helping them along life’s way. I will leave you with this verse.

Psalm 34:17 “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles.” How great is this, the God of all listens for my cry and rescues me in my distress…priceless and precious to the believer isn’t it?