(Pastor James Scarborough, Donalsonville Assembly of God)

As I traveled home from Kentucky last week, road weary and ready to see Gale, I received a telephone call with some less than pleasant news. As I continued on my way, I got to Birmingham at 5 p.m. — just in time to join the thousands of other commuters on the interstate. As I poked along in traffic, not so happy that the posted speed limit was much higher than I was able to achieve at that time, I looked in the northbound lane and noticed a car stalled just off the inside lane. With hood propped up with what appeared to be a long piece of pipe, steam was rolling out from the incapacitated engine.

It was a fresh reminder to me that my travel delay was not the worst thing that I could encounter. At least one person in all that mob of travelers was experiencing a real hardship.

As I talked to a friend the other day, we got into a discussion about facing adversities. She went on to say that during those tough circumstances, in order to have the courage to keep moving forward, she always reminds herself that things could be worse.

Her philosophy of the matter is certainly a reasonable one. But the truth is, there are days when we reach the realization that things have suddenly become worse. What do we do then?

Without a doubt, there are many in every community who are experiencing difficulties of many sorts. Gale and I had the privilege of going to Donalsonville First Baptist Church last week to a Celebrate Recovery meeting to hear a gentleman tell of how his life had been terribly disrupted because of alcohol and drug abuse.

But the good news was in the hope and deliverance that he found as he entrusted his life to Christ. He enthusiastically proclaimed the hope that he received as he turned his life controlling problem over to God. What a reminder that when things get worse, there is a genuine Source of hope and help!

King David’s words recorded in II Samuel 22 (and also in Psalm 18) offer genuine words of hope and encouragement that can be useful in a wide variety of circumstances. In this psalm of praise he acknowledges how difficult his problems were, but also how God intervened for him and led him to victory over his problems. And we can rest assured that He is able and willing to work in our adverse circumstances today.

While we cannot be sure of the exact events that David was referring to in II Samuel 22, he described them in a way that we can identify with--figuratively if not literally--during our darkest moments of life: “The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me” (Verses 5-6, NIV).

What he described is the day when things did get worse, a day when, apart from God, life was hopeless. But he does not stop there; he goes on and tells of God’s greatness and victory. He declares in verse 31, “As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.”

Things could be worse and sometimes they do get worse, but we can rest assured that there is always hope in God. As we experience the hope and victory that only God can provide, we can join King David in proclaiming, “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!” (Verse 47).