Don’t Give Up

“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.”  Psalm 61:2 (King James Version)

Have you ever teetered on the brink of something you thought you could not endure? Suffered a devastating loss? Received a frightening diagnosis?  I have, but as long I have been in ministry; as well as I knew the Scriptures.  As strong as I believed my trust was in the Lord, like the Psalmist, my heart became overwhelmed.  Despite how faithful God had been to me, my faith became feeble. Many times I thought my heart would break and that I had nothing to live for.  There were times when I  felt like giving up.  I wanted to give up.  I almost gave up, but thanks be to God I did not give up and the Blessings have been too many to count. The key was knowing where to go in the time of trouble. Like David, I cried in prayer to the Rock of Ages and every time — the Lord heard my cry.  After all, who understood better what I was going through than “the Stone” that the builders rejected?”

This is a song of David.  Yes, King David, the “man after God’s own heart.”  David admits here that his heart is (not just full), but overwhelmed.  In other words, (if I can use my imagination), I believe he is saying, this thing is more than I can take.  I am at my wit’s end. This situation is too much for me. It is beyond my strength.  If you are familiar with David’s story, you know that this was not the first time David had been in this place.  But while he began many of his songs with tears, he always ended them with praise.  In fact, the Scriptures help us understand, no one is exempt from suffering in this life.  But the  promise is, we will never go through it alone. The Lord has said, “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). I constantly remind myself no matter how things seem in these perilous times, there is “nothing new under the sun,” and that everything that is happening now has happened before to countless others who have come through victoriously because they trusted in God.

If I can leave you with anything today, it is to urge you to trust and hope in the Lord no matter what you are going through.  Pray about your situation — sleep on it and if God wills, tomorrow will be a new and brighter day.  Whatever you do, don’t give up — Look up.  And as a friend once advised me at a low point in my life, “when you get to the end of your rope — tie a knot in it and just hold on!” Hold on to the One who “knows your frame.”   Hold on to the One who will catch you every time you fall.  Get a good grip and rest in the safety and security that only the Lord can give.