Who’s Your First Call?
by Jeff Page, Director of Young Adults and Gen-X Ministries
When something’s gone wrong and you’re in pain or stressed, who is your first call?
At the beginning of 2020 I found out through a doctor’s appointment that I have two possible symptoms of a rare and incurable fast-moving cancer. Life expectancy for that possible diagnosis was six months to a year. I was only 38 years old, so the news hit me like a bolt of lightning.
When it felt like my world was about to fall apart, who was my first call? The Lord our God! That was both a terrifying and a clarifying experience. It was terrifying to think that my time might be so limited. It was clarifying to realize that God alone was capable of helping.
I came face to face with the truth of Psalm 146:3-5:
“Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”
What human being could I call for help? Who could I depend on in an extreme moment of distress? Modern medicine offered no support. No doctor could save. Loved ones were able to offer desperately needed emotional support. In that situation and others, we will all someday accept that God is our only hope or help.
That day I came face to face with what had always been true––my life is in God’s hands, always. He alone is ultimately dependable. He alone can be trusted. Even the best people are finite, limited, and vulnerable. But God can be depended on when everyone else is out of their depth.
Thankfully I did not have that rare fast-moving cancer, but the lesson of that week has stayed with me: In the most important situations, God alone can be depended on.
When the bottom drops out of your life, who's your first call?
Prayer: Lord, You’re my first call. People are finite, limited, and vulnerable, but I can depend on You when everyone else is powerless. May our ongoing church fast help me realize that even more. Amen
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