Encouragement for Today

March 31, 2025 Call on Him SARAH FREYMUTH Lee en español

“I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1-2 (ESV)

It was the wake-up call I never wanted: my husband calling out anxiously across the room, doubled over in pain. Face strained, sweat saturating his body. And it was the middle of the night, on an island, on the first full night of our honeymoon.

After we called emergency services, first responders found their way to our remote log cabin, an emergency ferry was prepared, and we braved the choppy spring waters to take an ambulance an hour south to the nearest hospital for my husband to undergo an appendectomy.

I crumpled into a green plastic chair in the waiting room, completely exhausted, body tight. The weight of it all pressed in, heavy and unfathomable.

Wake-up calls come in many shapes and surprises, but the core is the same: an emergency that spills into our hearts as we attempt to keep our composure, knowing we are tilting toward overwhelm any minute. We crumble. We splinter. We are swallowed in a darkness that hammers at us.

It’s difficult to understand. Almost impossible to bear. We cannot, do not, want to face it alone. It is in this time of suffering that words disappear, and our only communication comes through a river of tears and a silence that speaks more profoundly than any other form of speech.

But we know the One who holds us in the middle of the hardship. When we are inconsolable, His Spirit comforts us (John 14:26-27). When we ache, He soothes.

As one psalmist wrote, “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1-2).

There is a consistency that comes with knowing God is present with us and will not step away from the situation. When questions keep piling up, we can be sure that He hears and that in His timing, He will let us know what we need to know. Most importantly, we learn more about who He is in the meantime.

It’s hard, but we must know that He is here and that our every breath utters just two words from the depths of our soul:

Jesus. Healing.

We may be shattered, but we will rise, however long it may take. Take heart that God has heard your cries. His ear is turned toward you. He is aware of how you hurt, and He is there, holding out His arms to lift you and hold you in His secure embrace.

Father, I have no words. I am helpless and hurting — for this situation, for the way I need You to show up. Please, Lord. Healing. I do not know what to do, but I trust You will show me where to go. Open my eyes to see where You are, and move me into Your comforting and healing embrace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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FOR DEEPER STUDY

Psalm 77:1-2, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted” (ESV).

How does knowing God hears your cries bring you comfort? What is God wanting you to know about His character in times of pain?

We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments.

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