God Can Be Our Place of Safety 

In recent weeks it seems like floods have been in the news more than usual. I saw where one group of campers in another part of the country had to be rescued from rising waters by Black Hawk helicopters. I am sure they will always remember that experience. Even in our own region, there have been flash floods as some of our summertime thunderstorms have sat virtually stationary over one area pouring down heavy rain.

The psalmist wrote, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed (Psalm 61:1-2). Does your heart ever get overwhelmed? That word “overwhelmed” is often used in scripture in reference to being overcome by floodwaters. Sometimes things pour into our lives and it can be a real struggle to keep our heads above water. But the psalmist wasn’t just talking about financial difficulties, extreme busyness, or times of sickness. He refers to when his heart is overwhelmed. You probably know what he is talking about – those times when there is such a burden or heaviness in your spirit and soul that it is hard to keep going. It is those times when the floodwaters of stress, grief, fear, or discouragement pour in on you. It may be in reference to what is going on in your own life, or in the lives of those around you, or simply in our troubled world.

So what did the psalmist do in that situation? First of all, he cried out to the Lord. We need to know where to go when our hearts are being overwhelmed. We need to pray and bring our burdens to the Lord. He tells us to cast our cares upon Him. He has given us a lifeline of communication and we need to make use of it. It may be as simple a prayer as, “Lord, help me!” Sometimes in our grief, we may not even be able to vocalize what we are feeling, but the Bible suggests that God can hear and understand the groanings of our hearts.

Then the psalmist makes this statement: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). When floodwaters come, sometimes people have to keep climbing up to higher levels in order to keep above the waters. Maybe you saw on the news as I did about a family getting rescued from their house in one of those floods in Texas. It showed that family being pulled out of windows from their attic. They had gone to the highest part of their house in order to stay safe. That is what the Lord provides for us when our hearts are being overwhelmed. He doesn’t just lead us to a rock, but to a rock that is higher than us. The floodwaters may be over our heads, but God has a place of safety for us that is higher than those floodwaters can reach. He not only provides such a refuge – He is that place of safety. He is our Rock.

I don’t know what may have your heart overwhelmed today, or what flash flood may pop into your life tomorrow. Maybe it is the grief, loss, or sorrow you or your loved ones are experiencing. Maybe it is the burden of some lost soul who hasn’t put his faith in the Lord yet. Maybe it is simply the heaviness of seeing all the evil in the world. I don’t know what the floodwaters are or will be, but I do know this: there is a Rock that is higher than you and I. We can cry out to the Lord and trust Him to be our shelter in the storm.