Where Does Your Help Come From?

Where Does Your Help Come From? Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” I heard this verse while I was listening to the Big Life Devotional by Pamela Crim yesterday, and I instantly thought of this song. The song is called Shoulders by For King and Country. I will place a link to the song in the show notes if you want to give it a listen. It is a really good song, so I do recommend checking it out. For King and Country is a great group of artists. They moved to this country from Australia in 1991 when their dad accepted a job here. I love this song because it reminds us where our help comes from. It also reminds us of various ways that God helps us. It also says the words from this verse. They both start the same way. I look up to the mountains Does my strength come from the mountains? No, my strength comes from God Who made heaven and earth, and the mountains   When we are struggling and suffering, we look around for strength anywhere we can find it. We look to TV for distractions, we look to food for comfort, and we sometimes turn to alcohol or drugs to numb the pain. We look everywhere for something that will take away the pain or help us get through it in some way. As long as we keep searching everywhere but where God is, then we will never find what we are looking for. God is our strength. He is the one who can get us through the hard times. We just need to turn to Him and ask Him. We just need to seek Him out instead of all the other things that we turn to when we are struggling.   When confusion's my companion And despair holds me for ransom I will feel no fear I know that You are near   Think about what it is we do when we are confused and the feelings of despair set in. Do we turn to the Lord, or do we turn away? Do we have hope that the Lord will bring us out of this despair? I love the line that says, and despair holds me for ransom. That is such an accurate visual of despair. You feel like you can’t do anything but sit in it. This verse ends with I will feel no fear. I know that You are near. My prayer is that we can all say this. My prayer for each of us is that we can look to the Lord when we feel confused and full of despair. We can look to the Lord and not be afraid because we know that our strength comes from Him. The one who made the heavens and the earth. If He can create all of that out of nothing, think about what He can do in your current situation!   When I'm caught deep in the valley With chaos for my company I'll find my comfort here 'Cause I know that You are near   How many of us are in a deep valley right now? How many of us feel like we have been in this valley for a long time, and we see no end in sight? I love that it says with chaos for my company. Have you ever had chaos in your company? I am one of 11 children. Chaos and I are old friends. However, how often have we had comfort and chaos at the same time? This verse says I’ll find comfort here because I know You are near. When we find ourselves in a valley and we are surrounded by chaos, it helps to remember that the Lord is always near. We are never alone, even when it feels like we are.   My help comes from You You're right here, pulling me through You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness All on your shoulders Your shoulders   Our help comes from the Lord. It can be easy to forget this because sometimes He uses human means to help us. For instance, we may think our help comes from the person giving us the things we need. For instance, help came from my neighbor when I was younger, and my dad needed a car. Yes, the neighbor did help us out, and yet even he acknowledges the Lord led Him to do so. He had no way of knowing my dad needed a car, except that my dad prayed for a car, and God worked it out for him.  I like the image of this verse. You’re right here, pulling me through. Have you ever felt like God was pulling you through? Like, you for sure wouldn’t have made it if He wasn’t pulling you through. You didn’t have the energy or will to walk or even get out of bed, and yet you felt something pulling you out of bed and pushing you to keep going. The next line is great, too, because it reminds us that we are not carrying our load along. It says you carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on your shoulders. God has some pretty broad shoulders. He can handle our weakness, sickness, and brokenness. We don’t have to carry it on our own. That is just something the enemy tries to get us to believe.  We can give these things to the Lord, and He will carry them for us. All we need to do is ask.   My help comes from You You are my rest, my rescue I don't have to see to believe that You're lifting me up on Your shoulders Your shoulders   The Lord is our rest. We can just sit and rest in him. Whenever we want, whether we are weary and we need to rest, or whether we just want to rest in His love, mercy, and forgiveness. We can always rest in Him. He is also our rescue. He will rescue us from our circumstances, or He will give us the strength to get through them. I don’t have to see to believe that you’re lifting me up on Your shoulders. This is an important thing to remember. We don’t have to see it to believe it. We often worry because we can’t see the outcome ahead of time. We can’t see a way for the Lord to work things out. We don’t have to see it. We just have to trust that He can and will work things out. He is a Way-maker. He can make a way where there is no way.   You mend what once was shattered And You turn my tears to laughter Your forgiveness is my fortress Oh, Your mercy is relentless   This verse talks to us about some of the things God does for us. He mends what was shattered. Can you think back to a time when you thought all was lost and things felt so broken you thought they would never go back together again? I know I can. A few years ago, my family and my marriage felt so broken I couldn’t see how it could be fixed. However, I never gave up on the Lord, and He came in and fixed what was once shattered. Our family is whole again, not perfect, but whole. God can definitely turn tears into laughter. I have seen Him do this many times. Especially when I go to visit my college roommate Kath. We spend the whole time laughing and crying. The next line, I am actually surprised, is in here, as the verse I was going to use today talked about God’s mercy and forgiveness, and I didn’t use it as I had already used that verse in an earlier episode. This song verse says that God’s forgiveness is my fortress. Take a moment to think about that. What is the point of a fortress? It is to protect you and to give you a safe place to be. When I looked up the definition, it also said it was a place of defense and protection against attacks. Isn’t it interesting that the song says your forgiveness is my fortress? Did you know that God’s forgiveness can be your fortress? It can provide you with protection against attacks from the enemy. The enemy wants you to believe that you are the sum of each and every one of your mistakes. However, if we rely on God’s forgiveness, we know this is not true. We know that He forgives everything when we turn back to Him and repent. Also, I want to restate what the song says: that God’s mercy is relentless. He will chase you down just to give you that mercy!! That is such a great song. I pray you all take the time to go and listen to the song. This song does a great job of reminding us of where our strength comes from and why we need it. Our strength comes from God! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we know our strength comes from you. Please remind us when we forget. Lord, we thank you for all you do for us. We ask you to help us remember all the ways you are there for us. We ask you to pull us through all the hard times. We ask you to pull us out of the valley of despair. We ask you to be with us every step of the way! We love you, Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I want to remind everyone that I am starting a group coaching program in January. If you have ever desired to know the Lord more intimately, to go deeper into your relationship with the Lord, or to walk more boldly in your faith, this is the right program for you! I will help you get to know the Lord better, develop daily routines that help you grow closer to the Lord, and teach you to step out more boldly in your faith. We will learn all of that while having fun and getting to know each other. I pray you will join me on that adventure, too! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today’s word of prophecy from my prayer group is, “There is no demon who can touch you. There is no one who can steal my children from Me. You are ALL My children. I have given you a package of seeds. Those seeds will be scattered by each of My children. Some in small ways, some in big ways but not one seed sown is insignificant. It is all part of My forever plan. I am a part of you. Rest in My love and My peace. You are a chosen people. Chosen for me from the beginning of time. I cannot for the times. I cannot. You are whole in Me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace