Perspectives

When Our Bones Ache From Fear

  • Peter Friesen, Author
  • Retired Minister

Psalm 69:1-3 … 1) Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2) I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. 3) I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God … (NIV)

The Psalmist does not miss any words as he relates his troubled situation to us. Most of us have or will get tangled up in messy situations during our lives. We can not help it; and I do not think we can totally avoid them either. Some things seem to have a life of their own; and they do not always go the way we want them too! However, neither do we want to spend the nights weeping until we are totally exhausted. Circumstances that produce that hopeless churning feeling in the very pit of our stomach; those are tough situations that can and will drag us into depression if we do not face up and deal with them in their early stages. We must seek help from a higher power. We must communicate with God in prayer. We really have no alternative. We must realize that we will find strength in His presence; and that will necessitate a certain measure of faith in a living and loving God.

A thought just came to me: Remember the story of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane? Here He was; the Son of God praying. Why would He have the need to pray? After all, is He not the author of prayer and the Creator of life itself? You know, the reason He prayed to His Father in heaven was because He was Holy and without sin, and He knew that very soon He would go to the Cross and there take your sin, my sin, and the sin of the whole world… to become a sinner on our behalf. That was an awful moment for Him. Remember, He was holy and had no sin. So, He cried to His Father in Heaven for help. And the Lord in heaven heard Him. His cry reached God’s ear and God provided the strength for Jesus to face His executioners who were bent on nailing Him to the Cross.

That same God will reach down from heaven to take our hand when we are at our weakest, when our strength has drained away as water, and all our bones ache from fear of the unknown. It is as though our heart melts as wax when we are at our lowest point. But I must say it again: Christ will not ignore our cry for help. He will not turn and walk away from us when we plead with Him for forgiveness. He is merciful, and when we confess our sins, and are sorry for what we have done, He will wash all our sins away.”

Suppose you belong to an organization that works hard to provide for the needs of other people. You surround them with care and love, help plan for their future needs, and do everything humanly possible to equip them for a more secure life style.

Suppose some of these people never felt compelled to reach out to their supporters, never felt a need to repay by being worthy of all this special care that they had received; and suppose they failed, not because they did not have the ability or the resources given to them, but because they would not care or try, because they simply forgot the love that gave them so much. That is what breaks a volunteer’s heart. When God gives people all His grace and they take their own foolish way and frustrate that grace which might have restored their relationship with Him, then once again Christ is crucified, and the heart of God is broken.

A final thought: The whole process of salvation takes its beginning from God. No other person can save us. We all must die, our breathing stops, life comes to an end. It is only God who keeps every promise. It was because God so loved the world that He sent His Son. It is not that God separated Himself from you and me, but rather, that we separated ourselves from Him. Christ does not fear bad news. That is why we need not be afraid to confess our sins, but calmly acknowledge our sins and ask for His pardon. Ask Him for strength to stop us from deliberately doing wrong. Ask Him to cleanse our hearts from hidden sins. Only then will we have our sins forgiven; and well be free of a guilty conscience… To God Be the Glory Great Things He Has Done.

Would you pray this prayer with me… “Lord Jesus, come into my heart? Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I really want that peace, joy and happiness that will fulfill my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name Amen.”