OUR HELP COMES FROM THE LORD!
A Compilation of messages that explain Bible verses on
this topic.
A Compilation of messages that explain Bible verses on
this topic.
THE LORD PROVIDES FOR US, AFTER WE OBEY HIM
“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” - 1 Kings 17:9
God completely took care of Elijah during the drought. The Lord's Word had told him at first to go to the Brook Cherith, where he had drinking water, and the ravens came and fed him. After a while, the brook dried up, but God did not forget the prophet Elijah and sent him to a widow, whom he had commanded to feed him. Elijah obeyed again and went to where the Lord sent him.
The widow believed in God and she probably prayed for food, even if she did not necessarily believe that her prayer would be answered. But God, in His great love, prepared the food for both she and Elijah. When Elijah met her, the woman had enough flour and oil for a small bread for both she and her son, but when Elijah asked her to bake a small amount for him first, she accepted without commenting. We do not know what God said to the widow, but we know that the effect of it was that all three of them had sufficient food until the end of the drought, as the Lord spoke through Elijah.
The solutions that the Lord has for our problems go beyond all expectations! Many times the Lord’s provision does not even come from our efforts, because the Lord uses others to fulfill our needs, because He wants to bless them too. By multiplying what the widow had, God provided food not only for Elijah (who did not have to do the baking) but also for the widow and her son. This miracle is amazing. Because Elijah and the widow, both responded correctly to the Lord, He met their needs in a way that was beyond normal thinking and to many would even seem absurd.
THE LORD KNOWS THE PAINS AND DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS AND INTERVENES WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT
So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. - 1 Kings 19:19
Why did Elijah choose to fulfill the last task that the Lord gave him and ignore the others? Let us remember that the discouragement that overwhelmed Elijah after Jezebel promised to kill him, caused him to ask the Lord to take his life. Probably when God told him to anoint Elisha, as a prophet in his place, he forgot about the other two tasks and went straight ahead to find Elisha, hoping that God would then put an end to his unhappiness.
It took a few years until Elijah was taken from the earth, and in the meantime, he continued his work as the prophet of the Lord and he trained Elisha. It is encouraging to see that the Lord knew exactly what was in the heart of Elijah. Therefore, no other task could have made Elijah happier, than the fact that God had found him a replacement and his job was coming to an end.
The Lord knows how much things hurt us and what our desires are. God sees all things from the right perspective and takes care that all will work together and blend harmoniously for our best, but He will not work in our lives unless we want and allow Him to do so. There are extreme situations when God intervenes to save our lives or to stop bad attacks against us and most of the time He does it without us even realizing it, but God never forces us to do His will, if we do not want to do it.
WE CAN REJOICE EVEN IN HARDSHIPS, KNOWING THAT GOD ALWAYS HELPS US
I will rejoice and be glad in Your steadfast love, because You have seen my affliction; You have taken note of my life’s distresses. - Psalm 31:7
God’s love brings confident hope at all times, because we know He hears us, cares for us and is always there for us even when we have to pass through the deep waters or even fires of life.
There is nothing that God does not see or know about. We are tempted to judge God according to our physical limitations. But we have to remember that He has no limits and He created us as spiritual beings limited in a physical body, with a soul, while living here on earth. Why? So that we have to depend fully on Him and the help of the Holy Spirit in order to overcome our limits and be more like Jesus. God judges us correctly, as He knows all that happens to us from external factors and what is going on inside our minds and hearts while we go through tough situations. We read that “for we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin,” in Hebrews 4:15. Jesus has full compassion for us, not only because He is God and knows everything, but also because He lived in a human body.
THE LORD DELIVERS US FROM TROUBLES, SETS US FREE AND BLESSES US
- “He delivers the poor in their affliction, and opens their ears in oppression. Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress, into a broad place where there is no restraint; and what is set on your table would be full of richness.” - Job 36:15-16
Elihu, the youngest of Job’s friends seems to be the wisest too. He was pointing out that God uses the affliction and oppression that the devil brings in our lives, for our good, to get us to hear the Lord better, realizing how much we need Him and what we need to change.
He was right in the following statement too. God truly delivered Job out of his distress into an even broader place than he was before his tribulations and blessed him way more than he was blessed before.
No matter how hard the enemy tries to destroy us, as long as we remain faithful to our Lord, He will increase our anointing during hardships, so that we may overcome them and He will bless us even more, once they are gone. Our Lord’s blessings are as generous as tasty foods on a banquet table. It all works out easier and even our food tastes better while we keep a happy and thankful heart!
THE LORD IS THERE FOR US NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah - Psalms 46:1-3
God is a mighty, impenetrable refuge and only in Him we find true strength. He is always there for us in times of trouble and helps us out, most of the time without us even being aware of how mighty His help was. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, He will never fail to fulfill His promises. No matter what dangers we face we can always ask for God’s help and be protected in Him as our fortress.
We should not be afraid, no matter what our circumstances are. Even if the mountains would be moved into the deep oceans, the storms and earthquakes would cause the waters and mountains to roar and shake or even if the whole planet earth would disappear, we should continue to trust in the protection we have in our Lord God Almighty.
Many situations in life may compare to what the sons of Korah felt led to write in this psalm, but we can be totally sure that none of them is bigger than our Lord’s strength to protect and take care of us, because we have chosen to live for Him.
FATHER GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL COMFORT
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
It is so good to remind ourselves that God is not only the Father of our Lord, but He is also our Father, the source of all mercy and comfort! Our Lord, the Creator of all compassion and mercy, in order to save us, had to give His own Son to die on the cross. How much pain must have been in His heart, when His Son was in so much torment and suffering! And Father God suffered alone, while Jesus took all the sin of mankind upon Himself, as the Father had to forsake His own beloved Son for us!
While we think of the pain that the cross brought to God the Father and His Son, we may be more aware that our Father and Lord truly understand us, while we suffer. God is always ready to comfort us in all our hardships and see us through.
If while we are going through a painful season, we choose to comfort and help others who are overwhelmed by their situations, we usually end up realizing that our situation is not as bad as we thought and we actually heal sooner. Whatever we receive from God, we are given to also share, as the Holy Spirit directs us and blesses others too. By doing so, we will never lack.
THE LORD HEARS OUR CRIES AND SAVES US FROM TROUBLE
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. - Psalms 34:6-7
David wrote this psalm to praise God for answering his prayers and sparing his life after he pretended to be insane in front of king Abimelech. If in times of need, we choose to seek the Lord in prayer, wait upon Him to manifest His presence and communicate with us, we will be blessed, comforted and encouraged.
God answers sincere prayers of faith and when it is needed, He sends His angels to fight for us against the powers of darkness. The angels of the Lord are ministering spirits that the Lord sends to protect and help those who have the holy fear of Him, who wholeheartedly honor and worship Him. We are never alone, glory to God!
GOD HEARS OUR CRIES AND INTERVENES FOR US
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry... The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. - Psalms 34:15,17-19
God knows everything about us. He knows what we think, feel, do and all that happens to us, around the clock. He sees and hears us non-stop. There is nothing hidden from our Lord, He knows it all. As God’s children, we are covered with Jesus’ righteousness and are never alone in trouble or when we cry out. The Lord is always here for us and delivers us out of all our troubles, not just of some, but of all of them.
God loves us much more than we can ever love ourselves and He always does what is best for us in the long run. Sometimes we think we know better than the Lord, but He always proves us wrong. He cares when we suffer and His Holy Spirit who lives in us, is always ready to comfort us, if we call upon Him. When we are broken and feel like our world is falling apart, the Lord is there to save us from despair. God never said that once we are His we will never suffer again. Instead, we read in many places in God’s Word that whenever we are in trouble, He is right there to deliver us. Sometimes we have to go through a longer hard season, than other times, but we need to keep our faith in God, because our victory is close, as our Lord will intervene at the right moment to deliver us. He is never early or late, but always right on time!
GOD FIGHTS FOR US
- Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” - Joshua 10:25
The fact that Joshua uses the exact words that God spoke to him in Joshua 1:9, shows how much he trusted God for keeping His promises. Because Joshua kept God’s words in his heart he was able to fulfill his call, being the leader of a numerous, stubborn nation. He was a humbled leader that gave God all the glory for all the victories that the people won under his leadership. The Lord not only fought for His people, but He also stopped the sun from going down for about a whole day. The Egyptians recorded the “all day shining” for the date of the 30th of October 1207 BC, so the historical document confirms the miracle that God did, when Joshua prayed to have time to defeat their enemies. In verse 14 of the same chapter we read that “… there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.”
Joshua was a leader that had truly depended on God and constantly asked the Lord’s advice in the decisions he had to make. God rewards our faith and dependence on Him by showing us which are the best decisions, warning us of the side effects of what we are about to do and multiplying what we have so that we always have more than enough. We need to choose to remember what God already did for us, “be strong and of good courage” when going through hardships and trust God for fighting in our behalf. The Lord always makes a way where there is no way.
THE LORD IS OUR PROVIDER, IF WE TRUST IN HIM
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” - Hebrews 13:5-6
Our character shows who we really are. If we love God with all our hearts trusting Him and not our bank accounts and being honest people in every area of life, including finances, we can be content and happy with as much as we have. The level of joy and gratitude in our hearts proves how much we really trust God’s promises that we find in His Word. The Lord is faithful in fulfilling His promises but if we do not really believe that they are for us, we will never receive them.
There are many places in the Old Testament where God promised His children that He would “never leave or forsake” them. This is true for all of us, no matter if we are Jews or Gentiles, as long as Jesus is our Lord and Savior. It is so true that “we may boldly say” that we have no reason to fear any man, as long as the Lord is our helper. We can take courage in God’s protection and care and have no fear of people. Being God’s children, even if our physical bodies get killed, we will instantly be in the presence of Jesus in heaven, where He went to prepare a special place for each of us for all eternity.
Copyright © 2020 Carmen Pușcaș..May be used for personal study or instruction but shall not be copied and/or distributed in whole or part without permission or for financial profit.