“Lord We Are Perishing … Save Us”

It’s a terrible situation to feel helpless ….. to be powerless, unable to take effective action…. no matter what you try, you can’t get out of the situation …. you can’t get out of the jam you find yourself. It can be a physical situation, maybe being in pain from an injury or sickness. It can be a mental situation, feeling trapped… like a bad nightmare. It can be a spiritual situation, trapped in your sin and unable to get away from it. These feelings of helplessness are awful. 

Yet feeling helpless can actually lead to good things. It can cause us to cry out for help. “God help me….. God save me. I’m perishing Lord…save me.” We see examples throughout the scriptures. Remember when the apostles were in the storm on the sea “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us Lord; we are perishing.”(Mt. 8:25) There are countless examples in scripture of people becoming desperate and crying out to the Lord…and he saves them.

Despite the clear precedent of the Lord hearing our prayers, I can be reluctant to cry out.. maybe I think he doesn’t care or doesn’t have the power or I’m not worthy or it’s not his will to fix the situation.  I read a little excerpt the other day that gave me some renewed hope. The situation was Mexico of the 1500’s… injustice, crime, smallpox that killed half of the native population, human sacrifice, rejection of Christianity. Bishop Zumarraga sent a letter to the king of Spain saying ”if God does not provide a remedy from his hand, the whole earth may be lost in its totality”. (Magnificat, 12-9-22) The Bishop cried to the Lord in his helplessness. On December 9, 1531 the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego near Mexico City. In seven years time, eight million native people were converted. Wow, talk about an answer to prayer.

When we find ourselves in hopeless situations, we need to cry to the Lord in our desperation… not a half hearted cry, but crying out “ LORD, SAVE US…WE ARE PERISHING !!!  

So in what helpless situations  do we find ourselves… dire straights with our family, our children, our job, our country, the church, our health, our finances, ….. we have long lists. But whatever the “helpless situation”, know that with Christ nothing is helpless or hopeless. We need to cry out to the Lord in our desperation. Bishop Zumarraga pray for us to have the trust and confidence and desperation to really cry out to the Lord. Holy apostles pray for us that we might really cry out to the Lord. “Jesus save us, we are perishing… our country is perishing, my child is perishing …. Save us Lord.” And let’s anticipate help coming from the throne of God in his perfect way and time. And that is really good news.