Ask God for Help, or Get Hammered

I know a guy who was up against an especially challenging set of circumstances recently. He never had so much to deal with at one time – personal issues, family problems, and work all piled up on him. It seemed like he was at risk for losing just about everyone and everything he cared about. On the outside he appeared to be his normal calm self, but on the inside the pressure was building. Like a volcano, he was about to blow.

He thought about going to the liquor store and buying enough alcohol to get really hammered…escape it all for a few hours. But he shook that idea off realizing it would just compound his problems.  Instead, he wisely decided to take things in a different direction. It was worth a shot. Rather than running from God, he decided to run straight toward Him.

He took a walk down a path through the woods and prayed something like this:

“Dear God, please help me with all this stuff. I’m feeling overwhelmed. I am not sure what is going on but it’s clear that these circumstances are more than I can handle by myself. If You don’t show me the way through it, I don’t have a chance. I’m going to lose everything I love. Forgive me for not doing this sooner, but I am asking for your help. I know that I don’t deserve it, but I need You, please. In Jesus’ Name

He kept walking and he kept praying. At some points, he felt like he was just rambling but it was prayer all the same. It made sense to God.

When he finally got back to his car, he felt better. The circumstances were still there, but they didn’t seem to be as imposing or as impossible as they did an hour earlier.

“Wow,” he thought to himself “that was a close call.”

He drove home with a clear head, a hopeful heart, and a sense of relief that he hadn’t taken the first option. When he walked in the door of his apartment his wife asked him where he had been. He replied, “Oh, I had an appointment.”

^“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.