Have you had one of those weeks you felt like you’re on the Titanic while it’s sinking? Day after day, week after week, your problems seem to persist and magnify.
We have all been there. Everyone—even followers of Christ—goes through suffering and periods of great difficultly. What separates Christians from unbelievers, though, is what—or rather Who—we can call on during times of trouble.
What also distinguishes us is how we view and respond to our problems. C.S. Lewis, in his masterpiece, “The Problem of Pain,” said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
No one wants trials to come. Indeed, we long for a day in which our difficulties cease and we dwell with the Lord, unstained by sin, pain and problems. In the meantime, God can use our present troubles to draw us closer to Him.
History tells us that, after the Titanic struck the iceberg and began to sink into the ocean, the band aboard continued to play music for the passengers. According to sources, the last song played by the musical group, each of whom would perish in the tragedy, was the hymn “Nearer, my God, to Thee.”
Consider the dire circumstances aboard the Titanic—and in your own life—as you ponder these hopeful lyrics:
“Nearer, my God to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
E’en though it be a cross
That raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
“Though like
the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone,
Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
“There let my
way appear
Steps unto heaven;
All that Thou sendest me
In mercy given;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
“Then with my
waking thoughts
Bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I’ll raise,
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
“Or if on
joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upward I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.”
Today, if you are struggling, call out to God (Psalm 86). Ask Him to bring you, as you walk through your struggles and trials, nearer to Him.