Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me.
Psalm 31:2 (NKJV)
Thought for today: Hemmed in from all sides, that is the only way that Jake could describe the situation. He and his men were fiercely fighting off hundreds of Vietcong from all sides of the hilltop that they were on. He had already lost one of his sergeants who was in charge of one fire team. Jake knew that the inevitable was coming, sooner than he would like. Without a radio, he was helpless and could not call for backup or for artillery fire.
Have you ever felt like Jake, ready to be taken down by the overwhelming circumstances in your life? Perhaps you have felt like you had no place to turn, no help in sight, no end to the circumstances. Life tends to do that to us at times, doesn't it? We think that things are going fine and then, kaboom, something happens and we are ducking for cover. Maybe an illness, loss of a job, fractured relationship or inner turmoil.
Jake could not believe what he was hearing. Clearly, it was the whirring of a helicopter's blades. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Chinook-cobra chopper appeared and then four more. As they reigned down an arsenal of machine gun fire on the enemy troops, a Huey appeared and evacuated all of the men from the hilltop. Later, Jake asked the commander of the mission how he had known to find them. Apparently, just after he was hit, Jake's radio operator had sent a brief message asking for help. The squadron had heard the faint message, so they assembled to launch a mission.
While Jake never would have thought he would be saved, one request, barely audible, from a dying man, had saved. We too can make a faint request to the Lord, asking for help and deliverance. He will deliver and He is a fortress, a place to hide when embroiled in the circumstances of life. Will you not go it alone today, but reach out to the Lord and ask for help? You may not have the words to say, but He knows your heart and is waiting for you to reach out, even in the simplest ways. Will you ask today?
Heavenly Father, thank you that You are a refuge and One who never fails us and always delivers us. Help us to trust you more, knowing that we can wholly lean on you. In Jesus' name.
