A few years ago, several guests at a Hot Springs, Arkansas, amusement park had an unexpected bit of excitement added to their day. They were riding the X-Coaster when power was interrupted, and a dozen riders were left suspended at the very top of the roller coaster ride. That wouldn't have been too bad--think of the view from up there! But the problem was that they were hanging upside down 150 feet above the ground, where they hung for 35 minutes until rescuers could get them down.
I don’t much care for roller coaster rides, but I know the feeling of hanging upside down in other ways, so to speak, helpless to do anything to change the situation. And it’s very likely that at some point you have felt just like that, too. Life sometimes takes a turn we didn't expect, and there we are, suspended in space and time, and we wonder when someone is coming to our aid.
We certainly need to learn to depend on God. But I also think we need the fresh understanding of what depending on Him means. It means that we reach a very real point in our lives where we know that He is the only One Who can help us—that our ingenuity, our strength, our know-how, our experience, our wealth—none of that is good enough.
Sure, all of those things are good and they help us on some level, but sometimes God allows us to get into situations for which there is no answer in our own little realm of understanding—just so we can learn the invaluable lesson of depending on Him.
During those times it’s important that we remember where our help comes from: “I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com