Hope for the Helpless

Psalm 10:17 "Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them."

The hopes of the helpless.....

Even the helpless have hopes, dreams, aspirations. And they need a champion...someone who cares enough to intercede for them...to do what they think they cannot do for themselves.

And without taking too much liberty here, it occurs to me that God is the help of the hopeless as well. Our very present help in time of need...

This has been a day of facing loss with friends. Bereavement, grief, fear, emotional distress and deep loss have left their mark on this day as I have shared it with others who have felt the white-hot edge of life and known the searing impression left behind. It began as any other, but the hours that made up today are damp with tears from several people.

These life events will not make the nightly news. No one will report on their great sadness, and few will take notice outside a caring circle. And yet we are wise to remember each day that we never know the condition of those we pass along the street or in a hallway. As our South African friend, Dr. Ross Olivier, would say, "Each one next to us is sitting in a pool of tears."

As my momma says, "We're all just hanging on by a thread."

Hang on. Hold fast. Cling to hope that we can experience the comfort of our loving God even as our lives feel unraveled in this broken world. Sometimes those who love and care for others are actually part of God's provision of comfort and hope. The image above is a picture for us: building a nest together thread by thread. That's what we help do for one another: shore up with love and carefully placed stitches the broken places in our lives.

At other times, we need to be on the receiving end of grace and comfort. That is a picture of the ebb and flow of life to me....having seasons of dryness and abundance. Thanks be to God who never slumbers when His children cry in the night watch. And thanks for God's faithfulness and mercies that are new every morning.

God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us 2 Corinthians 1:3,4.