The seven-year-old called the number for emergency help. The 999 operator answered. “I need help,” said the boy. “I have to do hard sums.” The operator proceeded to assist, until he heard a woman enter the room and say, “Johnny, what are you doing?” Johnny explained that he couldn’t do his maths homework, so he did exactly what his mother had taught him to do when he needed help. He called 999. To Johnny, his current need qualified as an emergency. To the compassionate call-handler, quickly helping the young boy with his homework was worthwhile in that moment.
When the psalmist David needed help, he said, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4 NLT). He said, “My hope is in” God (v. 7). So, he pleaded for Him to hear and answer his “cry for help” (v. 12). Then, strangely, he asked God to “look away from” him (v. 13 ). Though David’s needs remain unspoken, throughout Scripture he declared that God would always be with him, hearing and answering his prayers.
Our confidence in God’s constancy allows us to process our fickle feelings, while affirming there’s no request too big or too small for the unchanging One. He hears us, cares for us and answers every prayer we utter.
By Xochitl Dixon
REFLECT & PRAY
How has God demonstrated His love for you by answering prayers you thought would be too small to bring to Him? Which of your needs seems too big or too small?
Loving God, thank You for hearing and answering every prayer I place in Your hands.
That our life on earth is “fleeting” and “a mere handbreadth” (Psalm 39:4-5) is the consistent reminder of Scripture (see Job 14:1-2; Psalm 144:3-4; James 4:14). In Psalm 90, “Moses, the man of God,” asks God to “teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (v. 12 NLT). David offers the same wisdom: “Show me, Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (39:4). The wise know their own end and understand how brief and uncertain life is (vv. 5-6). But their trust and hope is in God (v. 7).
K. T. Sim
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