05162026 It Works Every Time

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our great Helper. How many times has He helped?!

I’m sure no one else can relate to this (just kidding!), but I’ve been thinking lately about how often I need help. About how often I have an angry bear inside me as I try to deal with life – and then the times when there are two angry bears, and they are fighting with each other! I get overwhelmed. Life seems impossible. Or at least my current day seems impossible. Very quickly and easily I can fall into the trap of my own dark or frustrated thoughts, and they want to spiral downward.

When this happens, I try to remind myself to talk to God about it. To tell Him just like it is. “This isn’t what I want, but it is how I am right now, so please help me.” I don’t always remember to do this right away, but the sooner I do it, the better things go, and the faster things resolve.

I have found this verse (among many others) to be true. “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul” (Psalm 138:3). So frequently after the “help-my-angry-bear” prayers, I find myself realizing that God has done exactly what I have asked. It may be 30 minutes later or a few hours later, but I come to realize that the angry bears have gone to sleep. I am functioning. My spirit is calm. I am at peace.

How does that happen? It certainly is not because I have great self-control or power over my spirit. It is no mind game. It is no humanly-devised strategy. No, no. It is the help of my loving and caring and compassionate God who listens to my prayers for help and who does in my spirit what I cannot do for myself. God wants to help. He wants me to have victory. All I need to do is humbly ask.

My circumstances might not change. The craziness of my day might not change. But my spirit can change with God’s help. Oh, that I would remember to ask Him more quickly and more often!

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA