Do you remember your first car?

If it was anything like mine, the daily question was how (or if) it would run. Every week brought a new problem…engine, battery, air conditioning…you name it.

Barely two weeks after buying the car, I discovered that one of the electric windows only rolled down—not up. I could manage to push the window back up into place, but it was always a gamble to see how long the window would stay closed before it fell open again.

One night, I was driving alone up a long, steep hill. It started to rain. And wouldn’t you know it, the back window dropped open and refused to move despite all my pleading and begging from the driver’s seat. Yes, I was desperate enough to bargain with an inanimate object!

All the way home, the rain didn’t let up and neither did that stubborn window. The minute I pulled into the driveway, I jumped into the (wet!) backseat and frantically pushed on the window with all my strength. It wouldn’t budge. What else could I do? Finally I cried out, “Lord help me!” And as only Jesus can, He did! The window popped back into place and stayed there.

Isn’t that a picture? How often do we try to navigate through life, constantly wondering when the next thing is going to drop, fretting about what we’ll have to do to fix the situation. Why wait until we reach a breaking point to cry out in prayer to the Lord? How much simpler life would be if we looked to God as our first response instead of a last resort.

In Psalm 91:15 God says, “He will call on Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”

If we call, God will answer!

So instead of looking around for small solutions that can’t resolve the bigger problem, let’s run to God in prayer first.

It takes humility to admit we aren’t strong enough. It takes faith to put our needs into God’s hands when we still think we have power. And yet, when we relinquish control and finally step aside, He has so much more in store for us than we ever expected.

Fighting battles alone is exhausting and we aren’t meant to weather the storms alone. He wins the war with a wave of His hand.