You've probably heard the mythical story of the frog in the kettle. As the story goes, a frog dropped into a hot kettle of water will jump out, but one dropped into a warm kettle will remain there as the heat is turned up until it boils to death. Whether or not the story is true, it serves as a fair illustration of the situation most of us are in. Increasingly, the heat is turned up and the stress of life multiplies. Pay cuts or pay freezes come as inflation increases. Less hiring at the workplace means more job responsibilities for those who remain. Greater time demands add stress to already full calendars. Could the scriptural statement - "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come" (2 Timothy 3:1) - be any more descriptive of our times?

So, what are stressed-out people and families to do? Keep on repeating the chorus to the song. What?

Psalm 107 - initially a song, with only the lyrics now preserved in our Bibles - has a repetitive chorus: "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses." (Psalm 107, 6, 13, 19, 28) A reading of the entire Psalm catalogues the variety of troubles people find themselves in (you can probably identify with a majority of them). But, the repetitive chorus is a hopeful reminder that our Father Creator delivers from trouble and distress.

You may not consider yourself a songwriter, but you can likely compose your own verses to this song. "I lost my job in the economic downturn ... things at home really took a turn for the worse when trouble with the children brought trouble to our marriage ... in spite of everything I tried, I continued to spiral into the black hole of depression ... I tried to cope, but drugs and alcohol seemed to be my only escape ... etc". Same song, different verse.

The lessons of Psalm 107 are that it's not the verse that matters; it's the chorus: "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses."

God's ways of delivering from distress and trouble never cease to amaze. His solutions are not one-size-fits-all; they vary from person to person, and situation to situation. The particulars aren't nearly as important as the fact that He DOES deliver. Maybe not the way you and I expect or wish. Much to our personal dislike, sometimes deliverance is strength IN it rather than a pathway out or around it. But, He is still the God of deliverance.

Whatever your verse to the song is today, keep repeating the chorus.

Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2011