Helpless...

Have you ever felt helpless?  Why? Where were you and what was your situation?  Truth is I know we've all felt that way at some point - whether it was something we were directly involved with or on behalf of friend or loved one.

I have felt this way in all three situations and tonight there are things and situations over which I have zero control and it makes me sad, angry, humbled, frustrated and ultimately resigned.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Resigned to the fact that life is not something I can control and no amount of fighting on my part will change that.  Resigned to the fact that I AM helpless sometimes and I hate the helplessness!  Resigned to the fact that sometimes my best intentions to 'help' in those helpless situations just serve to make them worse. Resigned to the fact that if my friends/loved ones would/could just stop and wait or look to the right direction for help, it would be there with no questions asked and no recriminations for the past.  Resigned in my faith.

I have faith that God is in the big middle of whatever that situation is and no matter who is affected or what their current spiritual state, they cannot out run Him.  They can try, they can fight, they can bemoan or belittle, but my faith is there and it is as strong as it has ever been.

My faith might need to be big enough for me and them right now, and that's OK because others have done the same for me.  How many countless hours have been spent in prayer on my behalf?  I won't know that answer until I get to heaven.

Pay it forward.  Do this for someone.  Do it because they can't (or even won't). Do it for yourself.  Do it because you can and it doesn't cost you anything but a contrite heart and time spent in prayer.

Oh, and while you're doing this, remember that God did not save Daniel from the lion's den - He saved him IN the lion's den.

Daniel 6:16
...and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

Daniel 6:22
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

Hmmm...wondering if perhaps Daniel spent his time with the lions praying for the ones who had put him in the lions' den?  That's a topic for another night, I think.

Sending this out to my friend tonight. I love you and I have been praying for you - I'm praying for you right now.