HE HEARD ME

Psalm 18:1-6 (New Living Translation)

 ¹ I love you, Lord;
      you are my strength.
 ² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
      my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
   He is my shield, the power that saves me,
      and my place of safety.
 ³ I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
      and he saved me from my enemies.  ⁴ The ropes of death entangled me;
      floods of destruction swept over me.
 ⁵ The grave wrapped its ropes around me;
      death laid a trap in my path.
 ⁶ But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
      yes, I prayed to my God for help.
   He heard me from his sanctuary;
      my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 18 is one of my favorite Psalms. When you are going through tough times in your life the Psalms can give you insight as to how GOD will help you if you let HIM. HE will come to your rescue and save you and protect you from the enemy of your soul. Again...HE has done that for me!

When we are caught in the middle of that war zone, with the devil and his agents, we need to remember who our "Rock" is...I need to remember! Most importantly to me...HE is my SAVIOR!! Three years ago HE saved me from a life that I wanted out of. HE protected me from the devil and the plans that he had for me. Why? Because GOD has HIS own plans for my life. Jeremiah 29:11 says...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I need to hold onto that verse and repeat it to myself daily. Let GOD make it real to me. Any of you reading this that find yourself feeling hopeless at times also need to quote this verse to yourself...frequently. The LORD will protect us from our worst enemy...satan! He is the one that entangles us with death ropes and tries to destroy us. I like the way The Message says it...

^4-5 The hangman's noose was tight at my throat;
      devil waters rushed over me.
   Hell's ropes cinched me tight;
      death traps barred every exit.

Have you ever felt like that? I can tell you that without a doubt I know that feeling! For a few weeks now it was as if something was trying to squeeze the life out of me. I was full of fear and was pretty sure that if JESUS were to come back I wouldn't be going. I was at the point where all I could say to GOD the last few days was...GOD, Please!! help me!! Don't come back and leave me here!  I would repeat...GOD, Please!!  help me! over and over. Why was I so fearful? Because I let the devil get into my head. It doesn't matter why or what happened, the point is...I did. But now...

PRAISE GOD!!!  Just like verse six says...I cried out to GOD and HE heard me, My cry reached HIS ears and HE gave me an escape route out of the dark place I was allowing myself to go. Further on in verses 16-19 it says...

 ¹⁶ He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
      he drew me out of deep waters.
 ¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
      from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
 ¹⁸ They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
      but the Lord supported me.
 ¹⁹ He led me to a place of safety;
      he rescued me because he delights in me.

I am so grateful to The LORD for reaching down and rescuing me once again! HE has done that for me so many times. If you need HIM to do that for you just ask HIM. That is what HE wants us to do...talk to HIM! If you have read much of this blog you know that at times I lose my way. Somehow though GOD always finds a way to get through to me. Sometimes it's just by talking to HIM and reading HIS WORD. Sometimes it's through something I read in a book or hear from someone else. Sometimes it's through me having to talk it out with a Christian friend. The point of all this is...whatever it is that you need to do to get back in touch with GOD...do it. FIND your way back. Or, find GOD for the first time. Which ever it might be...GOD is waiting to hear from you!!!