WHERE DOES OUR HELP COME FROM

Where Does Our Help Come From

By Madelaine Snell

I was on a mountain top the other day hiking with my sister and brother in law when the weather turned on us.  We started out and it was a beautiful sunny day, by the time we reached the summit, thunder was rumbling and it began to hail/snow/rain on us.  This was not what we had prepared for, and the reality of the situation was we could very shortly be in some serious trouble.  I saw a man ahead of me open up his pack to secure his rain cloths, rain cloths none of us had thought to pack.  Things were looking pretty bad for us right about then. 

But, God….. Where can we go in times of trouble?  Prayer.  I sought the Father in prayer asking for the storm to be stilled, and maybe a minute later, right about the time the guy finished getting all his gear on, the storm stopped.  The thunder continued to rumble, but the hail/snow/rain ceased. 

Thank you Jesus!  We were so relieved and thankful for the answered prayer. 

God does not want us to go through our lives trying to figure things out without Him, to only go to Him as a last resort, He wants to have a relationship with Him that includes every part of our lives.

I was reading this morning in Genesis 5:21-24:  When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah.  After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children.  He lived to be 365 years old.  He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away. 

There were others mentioned in the linage to Noah and his sons, but Enoch was the only one with the distinction of having spent his entire life in fellowship with God. 

God desires for us to be so connected with Him that we open up every part of our lives to Him and have fellowship with Him daily.  I feel most connected when I spend time in prayer talking with God and listening for His voice, I enjoy walking as I do feeling perhaps like Adam and Eve spending time with God in the garden in the cool of the day.   

Psalm 121: 1-2: I look to the mountains; where will my help come from?  My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

We can be responsible in making right choices, but life can sometimes be challenging, we don’t want to live in such a way that we become self-reliant, let us remember where our help comes from.  God’s wisdom and direction may have us respond differently than we may be inclined to if we are leaning on our own understanding.  If we are led by His Spirit we will be going in the direction He has for our lives.

Proverbs 3 vs 5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Never rely on what you think you know.  Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.

To know God in such a way that we can be directed by Him we need to spend time in His presence, listening for His voice in fellowship.  It would be incredible to know Him the way that Enoch knew Him, to have such intimate fellowship with the Father. 

Hebrews 11:5: It was faith that kept Enoch from dying.  Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up.  The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God.  No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek Him.

May we be among those who seek Him.

Questions:

1.     What was special about Enoch’s relationship with God?

2.     What does Proverbs 3 vs 5-6 say about wisdom?

3.     Have you been making decisions apart from God, and if so how can you include Him in your decision making process?

4.     How would you say your fellowship is with God and what could you do to improve it?