I’m in Trouble
It’s St. Valentine’s day
and there’s a punk rock song by The Replacements “I’m in Trouble.” Some of the lyrics are, “I gotta run, I better hide …
Oh you won’t ever let me go, You’re in love and I’m in trouble” (Sorry Ma, I forgot to Take out the Trash, 1981) I know this song
because 1981 was college, the athletic dorm, and a lot of temptation.
The song has nothing in
common with the readings except some words.
The words from the
Psalms, Be with me, Lord… I’m in
trouble
I have cried that many
times. Many people have. They’re words that have been cried since the
beginning. The people of Israel cried them. They’re a prayer of affliction, a
prayer asking for relief, and a prayer asking for release.
He heard our cry and saw
our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
Our Heavenly Father
hears our cries. The Father sees the hungry. He sees the powerless. He sees the
injustice in the world; but, so does the evil one, the devil. The difference is
that the devil sends temptation and our Heavenly Father sent his son.
Temptation brings ruin. The Son brings salvation.
Have you ever considered
the fact that Jesus the chosen one of God had to face the same temptation we
face? The one God sent to save humanity from itself had to resist the
devil. He did it by the power of our Heavenly Father. I shall give to you all this power and glory.
The devil promises the
world. They are promises that are only temporary, fleeting, and totally
carnal.
The Son brings us love,
forgiveness, blessings, and eternal life. The Heavenly Father sent his
son, Jesus Christ, so we could know these things. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I
will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him.
Cry out, “be with me Lord” and Jesus is with us. “Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.”
The
Lord can set us free from this temptation. In our suffering, we do not have to be desperate.
We are not perfect. The
devil knows we hunger for “the ego, “the power” and “the world.” We fall
to the temptations of the devil. We run from the love of God.
Our prayer, “be with me, Lord…I am in trouble” is one we send to the merciful God this Lenten
season. God hears our prayer. He sent us his Son as our example. Accept the freedom the Lord Jesus Christ brings to us. Jesus
gives those oppressed by demons and temptation freedom found in the
Word of God.
Call upon him and confess…
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved.
Lord, “You won't ever let me go!” (Maybe that song means more than I thought.)
Y’all be good; y’all be
holy. Preach the Gospel by the way you live and love. Amen
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