There’s no need to panic …

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Whether or not Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which your life is built is quickly revealed in times of trouble.

Not necessarily big, audacious times of trouble, but in our culture, it doesn’t seem to take much for a person to panic or to see someone publicly, loudly, “freak out.”

But here’s the deal: if you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ, there’s no reason to panic, no matter the trouble you may feel trapped in. Evangelist and missionary, Jeff Strite, relays a story about popular pastor and author, Dr. Tony Evans, that reminds us that when things go awry, Jesus is just a whisper away …

    … [Evans] spoke of being on an elevator in a high-rise building. He said he’d never been particularly comfortable on such elevators. There was something about riding up and down in a little box several hundred feet off the ground that has never sat well with him. He worried that something would go wrong.

    One day it did. The car he was riding in got stuck in between floors way up in the higher floors. He noted that some of the people in the car became frantic. They began to beat on the door hoping to get someone’s attention. Others began to yell in the hopes that their voices would get someone on the surrounding floors to come to the aid. But nobody heard their noise or their cries.

    Then Evans quietly made his way to the front of the car, opened a little door in the wall and pulled out a telephone. Immediately he was connected with someone on the outside. He didn’t need to beat on the wall to get their attention. He didn’t need to speak loudly in the phone to receive their help. He could have whispered and they would have heard him.

In this world, there will be times when we get “stuck” in places we aren’t comfortable in. Some people beat against the walls, others cry out in panic, but scripture reminds us our God is just a call away …

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” Psalm 46:1.

When troubles come your way, how do you respond? Do you react in panic, or do you remember Jesus is ever present and always ready to help with any situation?

Scotty