Verse of the Day ~ February 8, 2012

In Psalm 107, I found a verse that is repeated 4 times in 43 verses. That verse said, "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distress." Why do you think that verse is repeated 4 times? Well, if you read the whole chapter you will quickly find the theme: God's protection and deliverance of His people. At least that's the theme I come up with... But this whole chapter talks about people in their 'distress'. What does distress mean? Distress means to cause misery or suffering to; an affliction; a state of danger or trouble. Does that sound like us? Absolutely. We suffer. We have conflict (affliction). We are sometimes in a state of danger or trouble. See the parallel? We can't avoid distress. Why? Because Adam and Eve sinned. But the blame can't all go on them... we sin too. Sin means separation from God and when there's separation from God, there's distress. I think that Psalm 107 was meant to be an encouragement. It states how bad humans are but it also states that "... He saved them out of their distress." We are human sinners and we have to go through distress, but we can be saved from that. How? Calling on the Lord. This doesn't mean you're never going to have trouble because you will. But it's much easier to go through 'distress' with God on your side than alone. We can't go through those things on our own because we're not strong enough. We are nothing without Christ. But what does my favorite verse say? You should know it by now;) Matthew 19:26 ~ And Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, But with God all things are possible."