Can you hear me now?

It is impossible to look at any human being and know what is in their heart and mind.  A calm exterior can hide a multitude of raging emotions, and dramatic ploys can cover a deadened internal life.  The closed door of the soul can be hiding raw pain, and the visceral reaction of a struggling person can be hidden by the superficialities of designer clothing and expensive trips.

What causes one to despair is as individual as the people that populate the earth.  It is true that some people can overcome the most horrific of trials and rise above their life experience.  It is equally true that other people may be unable to overcome what seems relatively insignificant to us, and it will drive them to the depths of despair.

But for people who are emotionally fragile, so busy cutting off the outside world that they are reduced to surrounding themselves with themselves, it really doesn't matter the cause.  The outcome is painful, and they are excruciatingly alone in their misery.

God is not interested in our opinion of his earthly creations.  He has made clear that it is not for us to criticize or pass judgement on those whose emotional life is more fragile than our own.  He is perfect, and we are each made in his image.  If someone is good enough for God, they should surely be good enough for us.

I have had a very difficult last couple of days, both professionally and personally, and my heart has been heavy and burdened.  I am frustrated by what eludes me, no matter how hard I try.  The things that weigh on my heart so fiercely may be inconsequential to some, but they feel overwhelming to me today.  I very nearly skipped my usual Saturday evening church service, in fact, because I just wasn't in the mood to go hear people laughing and talking and filled with happy stories of the shopping they have done and the happy time they had yesterday.

But God allowed time for me to go, despite an appointment that I expected to tie me up for hours, so I went, a little grudgingly, but knowing that this is the best time to be in communion with him.  When God leads, we should always follow.  This evening we sang portions of the Holden Evening Prayer Service (composed by Marty Haugen,) a beautiful musical liturgy that brings my heart close to God through my passion for singing my praise.  As we sang the service, suddenly a passage jumped off the page for me, and my soul felt some respite.

In Psalm 141:1, David sang to his very personal God, "I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you."  David was beseeching God to guard his heart from the evil of fear and sadness, and to listen for him when he was calling for help.  He wasn't asking in the hope that God would hear.  He had every confidence that God cared, and would assist him when he was struggling.

David was God's very own anointed selection.  He led God's Chosen People by grace alone when the odds were overwhelming, and he had every reason to give up and run away from the path on which he had been placed.

But God had a plan for David.  David's flaws and weaknesses were not enough to interrupt the great things God had in store for him and for his descendants.  David was the forefather of God's own earthly Son.  All of David's mistaken decisions were not enough to sidetrack God from his purpose for David's life.

When I find my life overwhelming, I can follow the example of David, and cry out to my personal Savior.  I have the confidence of a King that God's covenant with me assures that he will hear my cry and answer my distress.  Give thanks today for a God that hears our wounded pleas.  And even more importantly, accept God's gift of grace, which is his final answer.