Help Us Lord

Psalms 121:1-2

I lift my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Many of our Grace for All listeners have likely visited Lake Junaluska in North Carolina. It is where the Holston Annual Conference meets each year to conduct the business of the church and hear about all the good things that have occurred and will occur in the coming years. It is a beautiful place, with the lake and hills, the huge lighted cross on the hill above the building where delegates meet, a prayer maze, a chapel that induces calmness and awe, a place where everyone can reflect, refresh, and rededicate themselves to serve God.

I was privileged to serve as a delegate a few years ago when one morning terrible news came from home. A father and son had died in a murder-suicide. It was a family well-known and loved by many of our district delegates. A family of faithful Christians who had served in many capacities to help spread the Good News and establish new churches and schools as missionaries to another continent.

Mental illness had become the demon that led to this tragedy, and we were shocked and grief-stricken that morning. The following days of profound sadness and grief were almost unbearable to those closest to the family. The child’s mother was literally prostrate with grief, but her wonderful family, her congregation, and many friends held her up until she could once again stand.

The morning that the news reached Lake Junaluska, I was praying as I walked to the meeting center, crying out “how could this happen to your beloved servants?” when I looked up and the beauty of the warm, sunny morning in a beautiful place of God’s creation overcame me. This verse “I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” came to mind. I realized that as awful as this felt and as tragic as it was, God would be with us to help us endure and heal.

That day is not the end of the story. The mother dedicated her life to making the memory of her son a force of good in the community. Church and community activities were organized in her son’s memory. People chose to be the hands of feet of Jesus where there was need and continue to shine the special light that was this little boy.

A new family formed out of the hopelessness and despair of that tragedy. His mother remarried several years later, and a strong Christian family with beautiful children and loving parents grew. The Lord continues to help all of us who loved this child and his family and show us many ways to love and serve in his memory.

Awful tragedies occur every day in our world, but God’s promise never falters. He will never leave us, and He will always be there to help us when human strength fails, and we cannot understand why such tragedies happen.

Let us pray:

Dear God, our earthly lives may be filled with loss and sorrow, but your promise is constant. You are there to help us, whatever our circumstances. You will never leave us. For this assurance, we give thanks. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Pat Scruggs.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.