Look for hope, help, comfort

Speaking about what is often unspeakable is the most difficult task, even for the most eloquent. Words, no matter how comforting, always seem to fall short of alleviating feelings of pain, confusion and shock. Yet the words of the Psalms usher comfort that does not ignore our pain but points us in the direction of handling the unspeakable torture that is rising in a perfect storm of emotion within our souls.

Psalm 121:1-2 says, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

There are three phrases to grab onto from these words.

Look up.

Where your vision is set determines where you will go. If your vision is down, you stay down. If your vision is on what is behind you, you'll never move forward. If you look up, then you have somewhere to go.

Desperation yields itself to vision that is downcast. The Psalmist says look up. Set your vision not on the desperation that has sunk you into the valley but on the mountaintop that is ahead. The difference between living in and passing through the valley of darkness is looking up where the hills are and moving toward them.

Look out.

Perhaps you could blame my gender deficiencies, but the idea of asking for help is just the last thing I want to do. I'm not alone. The idea of saying "I need help" just grates on most of us. But the Psalmist phrases the question for us, "where is my help?"

When facing tragedy, often the last thing we do is probably one of the first we need to do. We need to look out for help. Looking out for help to cry, to laugh and will help pull you out of the valley of darkness.

Look to.

The life of faith does not come with a guarantee of painlessness. Faith does come with a promise to grow endurance. The pledge of endurance grows when looking to the Lord who created the universe and all we see. He not only knows the valley of darkness you are walking through but invites you to look to him while he walks along side you through it.

Look up, the mountain top is near. Look out, help is there. Look to, He will never abandon you.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.