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When The Walls Are Closing InGwen Smith
Girlfriends in God
Today’s Truth
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)
Friend to Friend
There’s a scene in
Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope – where Princess Leia, Hans
Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker find themselves on the detention level of
the Death Star in a trash compactor whose walls are closing in quickly.
Their efforts to
slow the walls down were ineffective. Leia and Hans tried every way conceivable
to brace the walls with something to stop the progression of eminent death.
Chewbacca tried to
use brute force. Steel poles were snapped like toothpicks as Luke desperately
called out to C3PO on his com-link to shut the system down.
Meanwhile, in
another area of the Death Star, C3PO thought that Storm Troopers might have
captured the crew, but he couldn’t hear Luke’s cries because he had forgotten
to turn on his com {the device that Luke was calling him on}.
He asked R2D2 to
look for the missing friends and began to search for and call out to Skywalker.
Just seconds before
the four heroes became pancakes, squeaky little R2D2 reminded C3PO to connect
with Luke via his com link. Thank you!
As soon as C3PO
turned on his com device, he heard Luke’s cries for help and quickly shut down
the trash compactor, saving the four panicked good guys.
They all took a
deep breath, hugged one another then looked for a way out. And then the next
scene began. Just like that. Crisis averted. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. All is
well.
IF ONLY life were
so simple!
I want every
blessing of God’s presence and every ounce of power He has for me – but I’m
going to be honest with you: I feel like I am in that trash compactor with the
walls closing in and I am fighting tooth and nail to experience that all-is-well peace.
This is a battle
that can only be fought on my knees.
Today I’m praying
for my husband who was downsized from his company recently and is actively searching
for employment.
I’m also praying
for a 44 year-old friend of mine who is weak with stage four cancer and fading
fast. She’s the matriarch to a household of boys. She’s a rose among thorns.
Thorns need their rose.
And there are other
loved ones struggling too. So many others.
I pray… and at
times feel like curling up in a fetal position.
The walls are
pressing hard. The aches are real. The groanings are raw.
Under the weight of
it all, I’m thankful for what I know of God. For what I know of His power.
I know that God is
in the middle of it all. That He is right beside me. Right beside them. I know
that He is more than able to handle complicated challenges and is faithful to
provide the grace needed for each broken moment.
I also know that
without His strength I crumble. Without His presence I panic. Without His
Spirit I wander and wonder and wane.
When David was in
duress, he often spoke to himself in the Psalms. I love that… because I do it
too sometimes.
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)
I turn my heart
toward His and talk to myself.
Keep calm, Gwen.
God is still on the throne – and you are free to approach Him at any time, with
any ache, with any question, with any weakness. Thank you, Jesus.
No matter what you
and I face, we never face it alone.
I love the way The Message paraphrases the encouraging verses
of Ephesians 3:20.
“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or
guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around
but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
There is power in
prayer, power in His nearness, power in the pouring out of emotions, and power
in the picking up of His Word.
God’s Word speaks
strength to wilted souls.
“When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O Lord,
supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to
my soul.” (Psalm 94:18-19)
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
Press into the Word
when the walls of life press in on you.
Press into prayer – even when it is hard to pray. Even when you
want to shout to the heavens, Turn your com on, God! I need you here!
Even when your
prayers seem to go unanswered.
Or when you receive
a different answer than the one you were hoping for.
There is never a
time when God does not hear the cries of His children.
Believe it. He
hears your prayers and can be trusted.
When we press past
the pain in prayer, when we press into Jesus, grace flows directly from the
Living Water to our parched and thirsty places.
Peace sutures
bleeding hearts and holds them tenderly until they heal.
Agony is attended
to by the One who knows the wrenching sting of pain, betrayal, and loss. By the
One who understands.
The compassionate
One who reaches for the trembling hands of a struggler, picks her up, and
carries her to a place of rest, wholeness, and healing.
By the One who
fights for His child when she is too weary and worn to engage in the battle. (Exodus 14:14)
Though walls press
in, God is able and available to work within – deeply and gently – with a grace
that gives strength and is sufficient for your every need.
Every. Need.
All is well.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I choose to trust You with the pains and strains that are weighing heavy on my heart today. Thanks for being faithful, loving, and strong.
In Jesus’s Name I pray,
Amen.
Dear Lord, I choose to trust You with the pains and strains that are weighing heavy on my heart today. Thanks for being faithful, loving, and strong.
In Jesus’s Name I pray,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
READ Habbakuk 3:2,
17-19.
“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds,
Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy…
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no
sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my
strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread
on the heights.”
I am the
author of I Want it
All (David C. Cook Publishing) and Broken into
Beautiful (Harvest House Publishing), co-author of Trusting God and Knowing
God by Name (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing). I am one of three
co-founders of Girlfriends
in God, a conference and devotional ministry with more than 800,000
subscribers from all across the world.
I speak,
lead worship and perform concerts for thousands of people annually at Christian
women’s events and churches. Over the years, I’ve shared the ministry platform
with lots of amazing people. Some include Ruth Graham, Lysa TerKeurst, Susie
Larson, Dannah Gresh, Stormie Omartian, Craig Groeschel, Carol Kent, Dr. Tony
Evans, Mandisa, Liz Curtis Higgs, Jeff Foxworthy and many more.
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