Grace has been struggling with a bad
cold this week. She seems pretty good during the day, but at night,
and when she first gets up in the morning, her cough is pretty bad.
Last night I put her to bed, and as she hadn't had a nap, she fell
asleep right away. About a half hour later, though, I heard her
coughing uncontrollably. By the time I got her downstairs, to steam
up the bathroom and try to clear her lungs, she was struggling to
breathe between coughs. I held her in my arms and just prayed, “Lord
Jesus, please help her.” She immediately stopped coughing, her
breathing became calm, and she fell back to sleep on my shoulder.
As I sat there holding our precious
child, I thought about my simple prayer, and how speedily God
answered. How often do I fail to call on His name, struggle away on
my own, and miss the miracle of having Him calm the storm in my life?
Far too often, I'm afraid. Whether it's a physical problem, a
hopeless situation, or an emotional battle I'm going through, so
often my first response is to figure it out on my own. Instead of
calling on His name, I try to fix things on my own, or overcome my
problems in my own strength. Prayer is too often a secondary
response, or a back up plan when I finally realize that it's not
working to do this by myself. I want my initial response to be to
call on the name of Jesus.
No, all my problems won't necessarily
go away as quickly as Gracie's cough did last night. But the name of
Jesus is powerful. He does have power to heal, to calm my heart, to
change the circumstances I find myself in, or to change my heart. No
matter what my situation, when I call on Him, I can receive His
strength. I don't have to face anything on my own. I can know the
amazing miracle of having Almighty God work on my behalf.
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” -Psalm 50:15
