For Crying out Loud!

Psalm 18:5-6
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

Have you ever been in a tight spot? Maybe you felt like there was just no hope? A while ago I was getting slammed in college with confrontations about my GPA being so low. I really didn't want to take the courses that I wasn't good at because I knew they would just lower my GPA more. All I wanted to do was teach young children and I didn't see why I needed to take math and biology or things that were just not my strong subjects. When I got in the state of hopelessness I always felt like I needed to give up somehow. I remember thinking I need to quit college and my parent's threats of making me pay all my loans were about the only thing keeping me going sometimes. I also remember having to go to counseling because I said I didn't feel like living anymore. My counselor told me something smart he said that suicide is just a permanent solution to a "temporary" problem. I used to put all my eggs in one basket. If I wasn't going to graduate college my life wasn't worth living. Then God started showing me He had other plans. He was going to take care of it for me.

Oh there were lots of times when I was in college where I felt like I was facing death. I became very ill because I was stressed out and I didn't want to tell my parents so I went to class sick. When I got to the doctor after passing out in one of my classes and having to call my dad to bring me to get checked out, the doctor sent me to the emergency room right away. I had Pneumonia! I had it bad. All because I wasn't sleeping, taking care of myself, and was stressing way to much instead of putting things in God's hands. I quickly learned to cry out to God. Because of my health I had to learn not to get so stressed out. I had a compromised immune system and it did not help to get stressed out about things that God was capable of handling. However, in order to let God handle it I had to learn to trust Him. We can tell our friends to put things in God's hands but it's very hard to sometimes when you don't know how to trust. I had to re-examine my life and realize all the great things God has done for me. How He "really" has always been there for me even when I was too stressed out to realize it. Once I realized it though I felt more at peace. I was able to relax breathe and just cry out to God to release me from the suffering and stress of the world.

Stress is a serious thing. In my health classes we learned that stress is the #1 cause of death in the United States. Stress can increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, basically anything bad that'll kill you. Even in my "secular" college health class they taught us that becoming spiritually healthy helps us relieve stress. Just try it! Try reading the bible... getting a closer walk with God. Try "crying" out to Him! and trust in Him that HE has everything under control!

Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP
5 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.