April 30, 2008
Where Does Your Help Come From?
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?”
Psalm 121:1 (NASB)
Devotion:
Where does your help come from? When crisis strikes, adversity hits, or sorrow shadows you, where do you go for help? How we answer this question truly reflects the depth of our belief that God is watching and waiting to come to our aid. I will be the first to admit that there are times when I struggle to look to the right source for my help.
Recently I have been studying the Psalms. Before I took an in-depth look at Psalm 121, I did not understand what the writer was seeing as he wrote this plea for help. The terrain surrounding him was mountainous. I’ve learned it was common for those walking by to look up in this mountainous landscape and see pagan worshippers worshiping their false gods on the mountaintops. When people had fears or needed a spell to ward off an evil spirit, they went to the mountaintops seeking help from the false gods, and pagan priests or priestesses.
After learning of these practices, I listened to the Psalmist’s cry with a different ear. He knew what help was held in the mountains surrounding him. He looked up and saw many receiving false help from false gods, and he cried out," I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?" Can you hear his plea?
Where does your help come from? What false help awaits you on the mountaintop of your horizon? In our day, there may not be a Baal, a sun priest, or a moon priestess on our mountains, but we turn to other sources of false help. Women all over the globe accept false hope from powerful media influences. Whether it is from a magazine purchased in the grocery checkout line, a book from the self-help aisle, or a popular channel on the television, we can see false help.
The next verse from the Psalmist’s pen is a declaration that I challenge us both to make. As women of faith, let's turn off the false help of powerful media influences and declare with the Psalmist, "My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” This declaration will no doubt make the enemy of our world angry. He wants to keep our attention focused on the false help we have grown accustomed to receiving. He wants to keep us from the real, authentic, and loving help that comes from trusting the Maker of heaven and earth.
Will you accept the challenge? Instead of choosing a familiar channel on the remote control, take the time you would normally spend watching television and find a quiet place to talk the One who offers real help for the problems you may be facing. Refuse to purchase a new women’s magazine to read while in line or on your lunch hour, or chose a more wholesome one instead like the P31 Woman. Pick up your Bible and read about God's perfect plan for your life, a plan to give you a hope and a future. Real help from a real God awaits you.
Dear Lord, forgive me for seeking false help from this world. I wait to seek You, my true source of help but I am afraid. Help me to overcome the fear and celebrate the future you want for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Living Free: Experiencing Life as it was Meant to Be - Audio CD by Wendy Pope
Visit Wendy Pope’s blog for more about this topic.
Out of the Mouths of Babes by Wendy Pope
Application Steps:
Sit quietly with God. Allow Him to examine your heart for any false help that waits in your mountaintop. Turn away from media influences and spend more time in God's Word.
Reflections:
Do I believe that God is willing, waiting, and able to help me with my problems?
In what ways do I allow the media to influence me?
Who is the most powerful media influence in my life?
Power Verses:
Psalm 40:13, "Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me." (NIV)
Psalm 54:4, "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." (NIV)
Psalm 146:5, "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God." (NIV)
© 2008 by Wendy Pope. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
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Matthews, NC 28105