In tight spaces

Psalm 118:1-9

What word of instruction do I hear?
Call on the Lord. When I feel hemmed in.... When the world is crowding in on me.... When I feel trapped.... When it seems like life is over and there is no hope.... When there's no way out, no escape, no air, no room to breathe.... When I cannot find my way.... When I am lost in a sea of despair.... Call on God. Call on God.

Why? Because God's steadfast love endures forever.

God's love never ends. God's love stands forever. God's love doesn't quit. God's love doesn't leave me stranded. God's love will not desert me. I can count on God to be there, with arms wide open. God WILL answer, and God will set me in a broad place. A wide open place. A place of hope. A place of options. A place where there's room to breathe and run and jump and question and dream and dance!

For what would I like to give thanks?
Every time that I have felt like giving up, God has been there for me, to rescue and save me and show me a way.

How have I missed the mark?
Even though God has saved me time and again, I still forget to turn to God. I try to do things on my own. I trust in my own wisdom and strength and ability -- all of which are God's gifts to me. And God wants to use those gifts to accomplish God's will. But I forget sometimes to look to God for the answers. Until I find myself in a corner, with nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and totally without a clue what to do next.

How is God present?
God is on my side, ready to help me. God is right there with me. Right there with the answers. Hope. Truth. Possibility. God is there to clear a broad path.

Thank you, God, for setting me in a broad place where there are many options, freedoms, and truths. You have not left me stranded on a narrow ledge where I cannot move or breathe or think. You have set me in a broad place.