Help in Times of Trouble (Friday Devotional)

 

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

- Psalm 18:2

It’s hot. Really, really hot. Perhaps you’ve noticed.

Step outside in the morning and, if you’re wearing glasses, they’ll immediately fog up. Go for a midday walk around the block and you’ll sweat like you’ve run a 5K. Dare to spend 15 minutes outside in the middle of the afternoon and you’d better have 911 on speed dial. This heat wave has broken state records, made national headlines, and left us all miserable.

Whenever Texas does this—and it seems to happen every year for at least a week or two—there are few modern blessings we treasure more than air conditioning. Indoor spaces, whether homes or vehicles or public spaces, become fortresses from the elements, sanctuaries from the sun. We don’t just go inside when we need something, we do it to retreat from what’s outside. Air conditioning isn’t a luxury this time of year, it’s a necessity.

That’s the way the psalmist speaks about God in his time of trouble—not as a trusty sidekick or a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency aid, but as his “rock and fortress,” his “shield and the horn of [his] salvation.” For him, hope is inextricable from his faith in God; if he is going to endure and come out of his turmoil intact then it will be God who gets him through.

In our age of self-reliance, it is tempting to see God more like a pool in the fall than air conditioning in the summer—nice to have, a source of comfort when you think about it, but far from necessary. That attitude, however, couldn’t be further from the biblical truth. Scripture teaches that, apart from God, we are condemned, that we are in dire need of a salvation that can only come from him. Far from being a spiritual luxury, a relationship with God is our ultimate necessity.

The psalmist knew where his help came from. So the next time you rush into an air-conditioned space, may that rush of cool air offer you a reminder that his hope is yours as well—when you’re facing the heat, God is mighty to save.