Do Not Fear: The Lord Hears Our Cries
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all; – Psalm 34:17-19
This guarantees here are quite lofty. As believers, when we find ourselves in times of trouble, pain, or heartbreak, we cry out to God, and He hears us. The Creator of the entire universe hears when we cry out to Him in prayer. When we are broken-hearted, the Lord is close. When our spirit is completely crushed, He remains close to us.
As we saw yesterday, God clearly sees, understands, and feels the pain and brokenheartedness that we experience in our lives. Coming to God in prayer is not a time to put up walls, but instead, a time to remove any barriers that could keep us from fully crying out to God in the midst of what we are going through.
A promise persists throughout the guarantees of God being a place to which we cry out. We will be delivered. Once again, we must not misinterpret this to mean that all hurt and brokenness will cease in our lives at the moment we cry out to God. Fully recognizing that we remain in a fallen world, and knowing that all that happens is worked together by God for the good of a just, righteous, holy end.
Similarly, when we cry out to the God of all comfort, we are assured of the presence of Christ within us. In His resurrection, He has already conquered sin and death, and yet, in another sense, He will be returning to defeat sin and death for all time and eternity. Because we live in a reality of Christ’s Kingdom being both “here” through His resurrection, and “not yet here” in anticipation of his return, we also live in seemingly opposing worlds of “deliverance has happened” and “deliverance is coming soon.”
So let us genuinely and truly cry out to God from the places of pain and heartbreak that affect us the most. May God’s guarantee of closeness throughout these moments assure us of His everlasting presence, His completed work in His Son, and His future return.
Action Step: Read Hebrews 2:8-9. In making Christ fully man, God subjected all things to man. How does this passage help you better understand the dichotomy of “already, but not yet”? Spend some time in prayer, casting your burdens upon the Lord, because He remains close.
