A Word from the Word

From the Ends of the Earth

 

Psalm 61:1–2

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.     NIV

Those words have a very special meaning for me; they were given to me by the Holy Spirit at a time of crisis in my own life and in a remarkable and unusual situation. I was going through a time when I was facing disappointment and sorrow and, really, it seemed that the waves and the billows of God were going over my own soul.

I was in a jet airplane on my way from the United States to Australia. I opened my Bible in the plane to those words, “From the ends of the earth I call to you.” And I thought to myself, That’s remarkable, because that’s where I’m headed for – the ends of the earth, the farthest part of the earth from the land where those words were written.

And I thought, Why am I going there, what’s God’s purpose? And I read the words again, “From the ends of the earth I call to you; I call as my heart grows faint.” And I realized that in His infinite wisdom God was taking me all that long journey not merely to preach to others, but to spend time in prayer myself, to wait upon God, to call to Him from the very ends of the earth. And there came a special week in my life at that time when I spent most of my time in prayer calling to God and as I prayed there at the opposite end of the earth, God heard my cry, solved my problems and showed me the way out.

So remember that: Call to God in your hour of need.