Who To Turn To

O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security. Isaiah 38:14b (New American Standard Bible)

Oppression is a deep feeling of heaviness brought on by the enemy of our soul. Many experience it in the form of depression, anxiety, or emptiness. I have heard people speak of depression as a deep, dark pit. Their whole world is dark and they feel entirely alone. While many of us may never experience that degree of depression we all know the feeling of sadness, weightiness, emptiness, and just being down.

Times like that use to scare me. I didn't know how long they'd last and I couldn't seem to see a way out. I couldn't even tell someone what brought the feelings on. Sometimes it was external things and sometimes it was internal.

I often found myself looking for something or someone to lift me up ~ alter my mood. Friendships were usually my main rescuers. Hearing from or spending time with a significant person could give me at least a momentary "high" to avoid dealing with the ache within me. The problem was, friends were not always available and what I could get from them was a temporary fix at best. It was like putting a band-aide on a deep wound.

It wasn't until I learned to express the pain to God and ask Him to meet the need that I truly began to experience freedom and relief. The realization that He was always available and willing to minister to me in this way has become something I highly treasure.

He used my own emptiness and attempts to deaden the pain to show me my faulty reasoning and inadequate sources. I realized external sources (be they friends, books, music or activities) could not do the internal work in me that was necessary.

When this truth dawned on me I voiced the most simple yet profound life changing prayer that blew the roof off my journey. It wasn't a long prayer but it was effective. I simply cried out, "God, I am empty. Please fill me with Yourself." It was than that I finally felt the arms that had been open and calling to me all along. I cannot tell you how much this has impacted me and transformed my inner world but I can say it works!

Father, You have been calling to me for decades. Thank you for never allowing things or people to give me what only You can give. I feel like I am coming home and it feels good. Amen.

Draw Me Close to You - Michael W. Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEHsrgDCaeo

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!