The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to erase all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in Spirit.  Psalm  34:16-18 HCSB

My mother is in an advanced state of dementia, she has developed a fear of falling. When we transfer her from her wheelchair to her recliner or the bed, she sometimes cries out for fear of falling. We have to assure her that we’ve got her and we aren’t going to let anything happen to her. We must assure her that she is not going to fall.  God does the same for us.

Many of us have lost faith because we have fallen or suffered at the hands of an evil person. Sometimes people perpetrate evil against us and we feel as though we are fighting them all by ourselves. For God’s children, this is not the case. God clearly tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5).

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that it’s not human beings that we have trouble with here on earth, but the dark forces of evil. This means that the devil uses people to cause trouble for us. But our scripture passage today says that God will not only turn His face from evil, but will even destroy the memory of those who practice evil. This means that for those that come against God’s children, there won’t even be any memory of them when He is done with them.

Let’s talk for a minute about being a child of God. You may have heard it said that we all are God’s children, but this is not accurate. We all have the opportunity to be a child of God, but we must accept Him and surrender to Him in order to be His child. He wants to adopt us into His family, but He never forces us to become a family member. Many people get into various types of gangs or organizations because they long for acceptance, prestige, and protection. When we join God’s family, He promises His love, forgiveness and protection. He will love us no matter what, but if we want all of the other things we must enter into a relationship with Him.

Our scripture passage says that when the righteous cry out for help, the LORD hears their cry. Verse 15 of this same Psalm tells us that the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry for help. We are told in James 5:16 tells us that the prayers of a righteous man have great power. When we confess our sin and enter into a right relationship with God, He hears our prayers. Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2). But when we confess our sin to Him and accept Christ as our savior, He is faithful to cleanse us and make us righteous (1 John 1:9).

If you have children, then you know you never want to see them brokenhearted. You mourn when you see their spirit being crushed. Imagine how God feels when we are brokenhearted or crushed in spirit. He wants good things for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Imagine how we must break His heart (Ephesians 4:30-32) when we are disobedient and we refuse to surrender to Him and His will when He knows this is best for us.

I have lived life trying to do it all my way. This is why I cringe when I hear the song My Way sang by Frank Sinatra and then covered by Elvis Presley. The worst times in my life were when I did things My Way. Once I surrendered to Him and did things His way, He had my back. He takes good care of me.

I never want to return to a life where I go it alone. I never want to be the one who is in battle by myself just hoping everything will work out. I never want to go up against evil forces without God fighting for me.

I don’t know about you, but I am over my independence. I live in total surrender. I don’t ever want to go back to that kind of life. I pray for you that you have surrendered to God’s will. I pray that you are living in His love and comfort and protection. I pray that you have unending joy and peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

When God’s got you, you can be strong and courageous and have no fear because God goes with you. You can trust that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6-8). You are in good hands. Trust in Him today and surrender your all to Him.

Have a great day!