by Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner @SGiesbrecht
The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14 NIV
I’m intrigued by stories of personal injury survivors. Is it possible to survive a free-fall from the Sears Tower in Chicago? The answer is yes. Or what if you fulfill a lifelong dream of skydiving, and your parachute fails, could you survive the fall? The answer is still yes. The wikiHow site says, “Hundreds maybe thousands of people have fallen from such heights and lived to tell the tale.”
You and I can increase our chances of physical survival by putting their helpful hints to use. We may not fall from a plane, but accidental falls happen when we least expect them. It’s just a part of life.
Beyond the literal, physical ways we trip, teeter, or collapse, life can bring spiritual or emotional challenges that can move us out of our comfort zones. Facing those things can plunge us into aimless descent. Ever feel like you’ve been tripped up by an addiction? Tormented by shame? Slipped up by doubt? Fallen headlong into depression?
God is near and waits for us to ask Him for help to get back up when the circumstances of life knock us into a downward spiral.
I’ve found it helps for me to reach out to Him in times of difficulty: like doubt, despair, depression, disappointment, disease, destruction, divorce, discouragement, domestic violence or grief. Even when I don’t really feel like asking for help, God’s hand is already extended to me. His will for us when we are down and out is for us to turn to Him and ask for a hand-up, lacing our fingers with His. God’s will for us is completeness and wholeness. He wants us to more than survive. He wants us to thrive! Psalm 145:14 says, “God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit” (MSG).
Dear Lord, thank you for reaching out to help me get back up. I choose to hold on to you. Thank you for giving me a hand, for giving me a fresh start and for allowing me a second chance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
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Don’t Just Survive – Thrive! @SGiesbrecht on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)
About the author: Exchanging hurt for hope is Sheryl Giesbrecht’s focus—a message she shares with audiences as a radio and television personality, author and speaker. She served as Focus on the Family’s columnist for Pastor’s Wives for four years. Hundreds of her columns, magazine, ![It'll Be Okay: Finding God When Doubt Hides the Truth by [Giesbrecht Turner, Sheryl]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41zEQLIO6bL.jpg)
and devotional articles have appeared in Focus on The Family Magazine and many others.
Sheryl is the author of It’ll Be Okay: Finding God When Doubt Hides the Truth (Redemption Press, March 2018). When we don’t get answers or see God’s guiding hand, it’s hard to keep moving forward in faith. Does God see me? Does he hear me? Does he care? Many Christians confuse doubt with unbelief and are afraid to admit those fears, but God is not threatened by our questions, and doubt does not negate our faith. Find a deeper understanding of the role doubt plays in your spiritual growth–and how learning to doubt your doubts enables faith to prevail.
Join the conversation: Have you experienced God’s saving power when you were down and out? Please share!
Arise DAILY Devos 
There have been numerous times in my life where I have experienced God’s saving power. Breast cancer, a prodigal child, financial issues, etc. Each time, when I truly released my worries to Him, a peace came over me. As long as I hold on to the worry, I continued to be stressed. We are truly blessed by Him.
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We we being sued for an accident my daughter caused while she was still on our insurance. When we got the summons the day after Christmas, I almost went into a panic attack. There goes all the money we saved the entire time of our careers for retirement. I spent at least a week getting very little sleep and agonizing over what was going to happen. When my husband and I finally sat down to talk about it, he was surprised that I would be so worried. “Whatever happens, the Lord has it in hand,” he said with firm convicition. “We need to trust him.”
So I decided I would. Every time a thought about the situation came into my mind, I gave it over to Him. When I was tempted to call the lawyer or insurance company for updates, I instead told the Lord I was going to trust Him.
When the case hit the judicial system, it was dropped immediately. Just like that. All that worry and loss of sleep, for nothing. Now it could have ended very differently. But even if it did, we had determined that we would relax into God’s will. Whatever it was. The whole thing was an exercise in trust for me. I’m not sorry we had to go through it. Because in the end, it increased my faith–even before the ending. It’s in the times we are desperate that He draws us closer and helps us to be intimate with Him.
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