In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles.

After the disasters pass, we may forget how the Lord saved the day. In hindsight, we may also forget how many times during the course of our lives the Lord came to our aid when things had become desperate.

There may have been a time, for example, when your health took a turn for the worse. The doctors had prescribed a course of action, and everything seemed fine. Then the bottom fell out and you could see death’s door in the distance. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord.

Or have you ever lost your job and not been able to find a new one? You felt like you contacted all the right people, sent out resumes, and expected to land on your feet, but nothing happened, and maybe you came near to the end of your financial resources. Friends and family were helping, but that couldn’t go on forever. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord.

Perhaps your marriage hit a rough patch and your spouse threatened to walk out. You talked to your pastor, even got some professional help, and thought things were working out. Your spouse, however, may have seen things differently and started making plans to leave. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord.

Or maybe one of your children found trouble with the law. You hired a good lawyer, paid for the research and investigations, and thought things were under control. The prosecutors, however, may have decided that your child should be made an example for others and pressed hard for a lengthy sentence. The lawyer brought in some experts at the last minute, but the case still headed south. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord.

The list of scenarios could go on, and in the troubled world we live in, each of us has a list of hard times. Each of us, if we stop to remember, has had many times when desperation took hold, and we turned to the Lord for help and He heard. Rather than recounting the trial, we must each give the testimonies of how the Lord listened to our prayers and saved us from our troubles or how He turned the situation for our good and His glory.

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International