By now we are two weeks into the New Year, and I don't know if you're like me but I've already broken my New Years resolution. I was going to go a month without bread because it is my sweet. I wanted to be a good example to my husband who struggles to give up his sweets and let him see self-discipline in action. Ha!
By about five days into the year, I was chowing down on a nice fresh piece of sour dough bread smothered with homemade raspberry jam, and he was well into a box of chocolates. We laughed at each other as we settled back into our easy chairs for our favourite TV show.
How willing the mind is making these plans on New Year's Eve after gorging on appies to the point of feeling uncomfortable, but how weak the body when day one, day two, day three rolls by, without the comforts.
I could end the message right here by saying don't make New Year's resolution and just be happy, but there is a deeper message here in my transparency of failure.
As you know, the names and titles of God are my passion because they are windows into His character and goodness. With a new year blossoming I thought it would be appropriate to write about how God is referred to in Scripture as "our Help" or "our Helper." Is this technically a name of God, as in a capitalized name of God, no, but it a characteristic so comforting, and so necessary to believe, that it is worthy of reflection.
Did I ask God my helper, to help me not eat bread for a month? Did I even ask Him if He wanted me to undertake this discipline? No. Is it any wonder that I was eating bread in five short days. No.
- Psalm 46:1 says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Hebrews 13:5&6 says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you, so we may boldly say: The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
You may be starting the year with real problems: a money shortage, health restrictions, marriage struggles, loneliness, family dynamics that are cruel, you can't find work, and the list goes on. But for believers in Jesus Christ, with the LORD our God ever at our side, we are not alone, nor left to our own resources to figure life out.
I personally, am going through some major struggles, and I don't just mean not being able to have my sour dough bread and jam, I am talking big things, life changing things, and yet I have a depth of peace I've never had before. Why? Because I truly believe God is my source of strength and help. I am not alone.
So, I enter this new year with hope, with help, with My Helper and JOY fills the crevices and cracks keeping back the fear and the wily lies of the enemy. God does not promise only good happenings so we can remain perpetually happy. But what He does promise to be our refuge, our strength, a very present HELP when things are tough.
Hang on to that promise. These words of Scripture are not just words … they are a promise to every child of God, and you are His precious child. Join me in crying out to the God of our Help.
Listen to this amazing song by Plumb called "God Help Me."