Oct 28, 2014
Rising Up
by Elianna Chroniger
As I started thinking about what to write for this month’s article, I really had nothing come to mind. Nothing, that is, until I visited the Bible Gateway website. The verse of the day read “[A song of ascents.] I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)
This was especially wonderful for me to read because I had been having a rough day, even if it was only third period. My first period class consisted of some difficult math problems and I just could not wrap my brain around them. This was frustrating to me because I like to know how to do things and do them right. In our second period class, my friends and I had a test on some of our summer homework. I looked at the question and my mind went blank. I hate the feeling that you don’t know anything. I finally reached my third period study hall and was grateful for the mental break.
As I sat in the counselor’s office trying to figure out what to write for this edition, I decided I needed a spiritual snack to satisfy my hunger that was growing due to stress. I went online and searched Bible Gateway, intending to look up a chapter and read it and just meditate. When that verse popped up on my screen I knew why God had told me to work on the article right now. The first four words told me that.
“A song of ascents” hit me first. This verse is a song about rising up. THAT was exactly what I needed. I needed to know that Yahweh, the God of everything, wanted me to rise above the stress and move on! Then I read the last part of that verse. “The Maker of heaven and earth” is my help. It made me think that maybe the next verse had something special for me in it too! As I opened up to the whole chapter, I realized I was accomplishing my original goal of reading a chapter! The rest of the chapter read “He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:3-8)
Realizing that the God who made everything wants to help me, made the stress seem to just evaporate. I was no longer worried about my college applications.
I didn’t care that I didn’t understand an accounting problem. I wasn’t worried that my name was going to be spelled wrong on my diploma. I knew, without a doubt, that God had my back. The best part about this whole epiphany is that God has your back too! I’m not saying that if you pray for help with a math problem, God will immediately give you every single answer. I’m not saying that he will make you a genius if you pray for him to. However, I am saying that God will take some of your burden. He is the help that you can turn your eyes to. He is the one you can always count on. He won’t lead you in a wrong direction. He wants us to rise above our stress and our worries here on earth and focus on just his will because he will not let us stumble.
