God, What do I do??

Do you ever have those moments when all you can do is ask God, "What do I do?"  There are times when we don't have the answers within ourselves.  Maybe we're facing a difficult situation with friends or things are falling apart at home, but we find ourselves floundering.  What do we do then?  We have a couple options: we can assume that God isn't speaking to us at the moment and try to figure things out on our own, or we can lean on Him and His eternal wisdom - fall to our knees and ask for help. 

When I run into this situation in my life I have a passage that never fails me: Psalm 91.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge-- 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

This passage speaks to me on so many levels.  When I was a teenager I read a book titled "A Thousand May Fall," by Bodie Thoene and I was intrigued by the title.  I looked up the passage in my Bible and it hit me for the first time that this is how God looks out for ME every day in every situation.  Ever since then it has been my go-to Psalm when times get tough.  I love the fact that you get to hear God's perspective as well as the psalmists'.  There's something really comforting about God telling you that He will be with you in your time of trouble.  The imagery in this psalm also gets me every time.  I can just see God spreading HIs protective wings over me when I'm at my weakest.  And, boy are there times I need that image.  I need to know that He is in my corner blocking arrows and pestilence! 

What is your go-to passage?  If you don't have one, I highly recommend finding one.  God wants to share His comfort with you, and sometimes His word is the best place to find it.  We should be actively praying, of course, but I think we do ourselves a great disservice when we neglect to search the BIble for help.  The Bible is as relevant today as it was back when it was written!  It amazes me how much I can find in there that applies directly to my struggles today.  We always assume that the Bible was written to people "back then" who didn't deal with the same things we do.  But, the more I read the more I find that they were dealing with the very same stuff we do - it took different forms, and technology has certainly made our world different, but overall we are facing the same spiritual battles today that our early Christian fathers did.  We should take comfort in the fact that the same God who helped them through their troubles is ready and willing to help us through ours... if we will just ask!