What is your story? Who were you before Jesus?
Were you a wanderer without purpose? A prisoner to sin or addiction? Were you distressed? Have you been tossed in the storms of life? Psalm 107:2 says, “Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.”
I have been a prisoner to my worry for a long time. It was something that was so natural for me that I didn’t even know I was doing it. I would wake up with a racing heart and anxious mind that would take me through the day and then have the audacity to keep me awake at night. And the cycle would continue day after day. It was like a snowball that kept getting bigger and bigger. Peace eluded me and I thought something must be wrong with me! And the thought that I was flawed kept me from rejoicing in the truth that I am loved by God, my creator. I was distressed. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your cares and worries to God, for He cares about what happens to you. Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great ememy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.” I believed the lie that I was flawed, unworthy, and unable to overcome my thoughts. I am still a work in progress, but I am aware now that God did not create me to worry about all of the what ifs and to succumb to the feelings of “not good enough”. That is the roaring lion creeping up behind me. When this happens, I cry out to the Lord and He helps me in my distress. It is not always a sweet prayer. Most often it is me, on my knees, crying out for help to see myself as God sees me. To have faith that He will rescue me, ultimately into eternity with Him. I am redeemed! Not because I have the power to redeem myself, but because there is power when I cry out to the Lord in my distress. And he never tires of my cries. I am loved and significant because of God. I am redeemed! And in Him, I find peace. There are days that I am really good at remembering this and then there are other days that the lion is closer than I want it to be. But my redeemer is always a prayer or a cry away and able to rescue me in my distress!
Psalm 107 is a chapter about thankfulness to God for delivering us from our distress. Verses 6,13,19,and 28 repeat “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued (saved) them from their distress”. The more we suffer and have to rely on God the bigger our understanding of Him becomes. He saves us from wandering, from being a prisoner to ourselves and the world, from our distress, and from the storms of life. All of our stories are different. Your story could lead someone closer to Jesus.
Psalm 107:2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!