Let Me Live!

Over the last thirty years it has been such a privilege to minister the healing love of God to people who have come on healing retreats and training courses. They may not have used the actual words of the Psalmist, “let me live” but in reality that’s what so many of them have been saying. Their life has been caught up in things that were ungodly and it`s as if the very life has been strangled out of them! They have often felt as though they are dying. They have known what the commands of God were, but nevertheless they have chosen to go their own way. They have, as the Psalmist confessed for himself, “strayed like a lost sheep”.

But the wonderful good news of the Gospel is that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and to look for the lost sheep! He longs to bring them His healing and His salvation and restore their broken hearts. He longs to help them get their feet back on the right path. The desire of His heart is always to see His people fulfilled in their God-given destiny, rejoicing in who they are in God and that He has redeemed them from the clutches of the enemy.

When the Psalmist cries out “Let me live”, he is expressing the desire of countless believers down the centuries who have realised their predicament and known that they had nowhere else to turn. They had reached the end of the road and were desperate for a way out. The fact is that sometimes we need to get to that point of desperation, before our hearts are open to what God might be saying. It is as if our spiritual ears are unable to listen to God while we are choosing to walk in the wrong direction – away from Him. Our physical ears are designed to collect the sound that’s coming towards us. So when we are walking away from someone, it’s hard to hear what they are saying. In just the same way when we are walking away from God, we make it hard for our spiritual ears to hear what God is saying!

All we have to do is turn around and change our direction – that’s the heart of repentance. As soon as we start walking towards God, then things become more clear, every step that we take. And then our own cry of “let me live” is not only heard by the Father, but we then become aware of the fact that the Good Shepherd is looking for His sheep!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that you love and care for us so much that you always want to look for the lost sheep - even me. Forgive me, Lord, for the times that I have been unable to hear your voice, because I have been walking away from You. I choose to turn round and come running to the only One who can give me life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.