ONLY GOD CAN HELP

September 2 

In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and cried to my God for help; 
He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.  Psalm 18:6

On October 14, 1987 eighteen-month-old Jessica McClure was playing in the backyard, when she fell down into an abandoned 8" well. She was completely helpless. She didn’t just fall a foot or two, she fell about 22' down, before she became stuck. Since the well was only 8" wide, no one could go down to her. She was too young to grab on to a rope that was lowered down to her. She was completely helpless. Baby Jessica, as she was soon called, was like each one of us apart from Christ. Our sin has caused us to fall into a hole that we cannot get out of. No other human can help us. We cannot help ourselves. We are stuck. We are helpless.  

Rescuers worked for hours, which turned into days, to save Baby Jessica. They ended up drilling another hole beside the well and then drilled a horizontal hole over to the well. Finally, after 56 hours, Jessica was saved! She was completely helpless. She could only cry out for help. The same is true for you and I. We are helpless. We cannot save ourselves. We can only cry out for help.  

But notice what God does when we cry out…He hears. When God hears our voice, that is not just a passive action of Him taking note of it. Instead, when He hears, He acts. Look at how He responds in the verses that follow Psalm 18:6. Notice especially verse 30, “He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”  

Joshua Steiner