“He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest, but the Lord upheld me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.” Psalm 18:16-19
It is possible that your heart is residing in a place that does not seem to reflect the picture these words are painting. Safety. Deliverance. Rescued. Delightful.
You may be slumping and sagging in a sea of crashing waves that feels so desperately isolated, feeling anything but delightful and rescued; others say they understand and it is possible that they do. Despite their pure-hearted and loving attempts to bring comfort, what may instead be brought forth is discouragement as they attempt to pull you out of the water themsleves. But don't be upset with them; they only love you. You may feel as though life itself, maybe God, is attacking you and you are at your weakest. How can the Lord be upholding me when He is busy dragging me down? You may wonder.
[The crazy thing about being at your weakest is that there is so much room to see Christ.]
In those moments of weak, in the days of trials and sorrows and weary dreary aches, Christ is near. He is present. He may not seem like it, but may I assure you and let you know that He is? That doesn’t mean you have to get up and DO. That doesn’t mean you have to say things you do not mean or reside where you are not. But it means you can recognize that He is there in the midst. Recognize that God is not life and life is not God – circumstances are not God. We can yell at God and blame God and ask God why, but He is not our circumstance. He is not to blame, even if He could have prevented. He is not here to serve us, to prevent suffering and pain, He is here to be just that: HERE. Present. With us. God with us. He sees our everything, He sees our naked souls bare and vulnerable. He, above all, is trustworthy with the preciousness of them.
[And oh how He loves.]
When we are weak we have room and reason to call out to Him. When we are weak, we cannot depend upon ourselves. When we are weak, we have no where to turn but to Him. It is possible that you feel you are avoiding Him, you are turning away from Him. It is possible that you are. But as you recognize those things and hear the still small voice, “Fear not, for I am with you,” you know He is there.
I encourage you to let Him reach down and rescue you, to allow His strong hand to draw you out of deep waters. Just because He draws you out of the deep waters doesn’t mean you don’t have shark bites and coral cuts to deal with. But He will be there to heal those too. When your enemies are too strong, allow Him to deliver you, let Him protect and stand to comfort you - use His word, the Bible, to be a source of strength and comfort and protection. When you are weak and lying in the sticky muck, uncertain of what to do or where to go, lacking any ounce of the will-power you once contained…let Him uphold you. Let Him draw you out of the deep and dangerous waters. In broken and empty times you must simply exist and recognize that He is there. Lean into His chest. Hear His heartbeat.
Can you rest in the peace that He is there, with you? Imagine your weak fragile self lying so carefully in His mighty strong and safe hands. Head upon His chest, listening to His wildly beating heart; much like a Father should safely love His child.
Let Him uphold you, because He delights in you.
