Hemmed In

“You hem me in behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” Psalm 139:5-6

To be hemmed in means to surround or enclose someone or to restrict or confine something. At first glance, it would seems that David was feeling oppressed by the Lord. Like he was saying, “You surround me on every side! I can’t get away from you! I feel your heavy hand restricting me!” But then the very next verse he compliments the Lord on His brilliance. David seemed to have a much different view of the Lord than many of us do. He knew that the Lord was for him and he trusted Him with everything. I love the verse where David exclaims, “I run in the path of your commands, because you have set my heart free!”

If there is anything this quarantine has exposed it is that we have become way too comfortable. This is epecially true in America, but as I have seen in my travels, it’s not too far off in other places. Maybe it’s more accurate to say, as humans, we love our comforts. When we want something, we go get it. Are you craving something sweet? You can easily find a place nearby that sells it. You want the latest iPhone? There are several phone companies who would love to sell it to you. If you can’t afford it, they will put you on a plan for the next two years to pay it over time. But what happens when you can’t do that?

The Lord is not a vending machine that supplies our every desire. He is much wiser than that. He is not after your comfort because he knows that will lead to your destruction. So the Lord sometimes takes away our comforts to get to our hearts and lead us back to life.

This quarantine has thwarted many of our plans and has taken away many of our comforts. And now, what are you left with? What if the life you have made for yourself is really not ‘life’ at all? Maybe this is the Lord thwarting you to get to your heart. How much of your life have you really placed under His trust? Chances are if you have had anxiety, fear, discouragement, despair, frustration, or hopelessness then you may be holding on to way more than you think. Maybe He is trying to expose you from your hiding or from your controlling ways. Maybe its time to let go of all the the ways you have gotten control of your life and run to your true Rescue. Do you trust in the Lord with all of your heart?

Spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to expose the place where you don’t fully trust Him. My tendency is to read devotionals like this and just move on and not really pray. So stop what your doing and pray right now. Confess to the Lord where you don’t trust Him and ask Him to help you to trust Him more.