I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. 3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4 Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. 5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

There are times in each of our lives that we wonder if anyone really cares about us and about our problems. We see others going about their lives and they seem oblivious to all that we face. It is though our entire world has crashed in around us and no one seems to even notice. While this is probably an over reaction in most cases, we feel the loneliness and even the rejection deeply. The Psalmist tells us two things that we can count on. The first is that God is aware of our plight and he cares. The second is that the righteous (God’s people) really do care and want to show kindness to us.

God cares about each of us. For some reason, when we need him most is when too many of us turn from him. When we face a crisis in our lives we can turn to our loving Father and know that he is with us. Paul tells us that we need to never quit praying because the “Lord is near.” It is at these times that we can just feel his loving arms around us and know the comfort, joy and peace that only he can give. Are you hurting? Turn to him and not away from him.
By turning to God and wanting to be with him we find ourselves wanting to be with others who love him too. Again, when we face crisis we need to take time to be with others who love the Lord. We are told to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. When we are hurting we need to open our hearts to those who love us and who want to share our burdens and help us carry our load. We must not turn away from our church family but rather let them help us in our time of need. Each of them will need our help later.

O God, please help me to help others. Don’t let me ever leave the impression that I don’t care about them and their problems. Give me wisdom to use the things I have faced in life and the help you have given to me to strengthen and encourage others in their time of need. I pray in Jesus name.

May God bless each of us as we share our loads together.