Afraid To Call For Help?

News agencies have been reporting such stories more and more in recent months—stories of burglaries that go very badly for the burglar.

Backfiring Burglaries

In the process of either breaking into a home or business or making their escape, burglars have been getting themselves trapped in chimneys, in windows that won’t open wide enough, in ventilation ducts that are too narrow, or snagged on barbed wire fences, or eaten by alligators. Most recently the news reported on 21–year-old Leoul Yosef. He was breaking into the home of a Virginia resident when the owner returned. The owner immediately phoned police. Yosef tried to flee the scene by jumping from the second story balcony, but broke his leg in the process.

What does one do in such situations? Does he or she call 911 for help—knowing that such a call will alert authorities to one’s crime? Most people are desperate enough to scream for help—especially those would-be burglars who get themselves stuck in chimneys—not a safe place to be in the depths of winter.

Well Yosef did the right thing. Unable to walk and in tremendous pain, he called 911 for help. Police and rescue workers found him not far from the home he tried to rob and it took them little time to figure out how Josef broke his leg. He’ll spend some time in jail, but it’s better than dying of hypothermia or an untreated injury.

What is our response when we get ourselves in trouble? If the trouble is marital infidelity, do we try to conceal our sin? If the trouble is some addiction or life-controlling problem, do we hide the problem while maintaining the image of professionalism and success? Hopefully we will seek out help—before the hidden problem breaks out of the closet and into the open, before it destroys everything we’ve worked for.

Reaching Out

And what is our response when we’re in trouble with God? Yes, in trouble with the Almighty. For the Scriptures inform us that all of us have sinned against Him and failed to measure up to His glorious standard of conduct (Isaiah 53:5–6; Matthew 5:48; Romans 3:8–23). But take courage. God is not the big policeman in the sky, but the heavenly search and rescue. In this present period of grace God is not in the business of judgment, but redemption. He awaits our cry for help—not to arrest and punish us, but to deliver and save us, to welcome us in His arms to be loved, healed, and blessed. In the parables of Luke’s Gospel, chapter 15 (the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son) that which was lost was not hunted down in vengeance, but in redeeming love.

If you are in trouble with both God and man, then now is the time reach out for help—beginning with God. Be reconciled with your Heavenly Father. Let Jesus take command of your live. “First and foremost, seek God’s reign in your life and a right relationship with Him. If you do so, everything else will fall into place and your needs will be met” (Matthew 6:33, paraphrase).

PRAYER:

Dear Father in heaven, here and now I confess my sins and failures to You. Please forgive me and save me eternally. Please redeem my life from the mess I’ve turned it into. Help me to serve You from this day forward. Amen.