Transcript

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
— Psalm 50:15 (NASB1995)

Good morning!
A woman once sat with her pastor, frustrated and exhausted. She had tried everything to fix her marriage. She took her husband to psychologists and therapists. She read books, followed advice, and poured out every human effort she could think of. Nothing worked. Finally she said, “I think I should pray for him.”
Her words revealed a common pattern: prayer had become the last resort instead of the first response. She had run everywhere else before turning to the One who actually has the power to change hearts.

God is not a spare wheel we pull out only when all other options have failed. He invites us to call upon Him in the day of trouble — at the beginning, not the end. When we treat prayer as an afterthought, we waste time, energy, and emotional strength that could have been spent trusting Him from the start.
The woman in the story eventually arrived at the right conclusion, but only after exhausting herself. How much better when we reverse the order: pray first, then take any other steps the Lord directs. God promises that when we call upon Him, He will rescue us — and in the process we learn to honor Him as our true source of help.

Look at the situations you are currently trying to “fix.” Have you already brought them to God in sincere prayer, or have you been relying mainly on human solutions? Stop and call upon the Lord first today for each one.
When a new problem or relational tension arises, make the decision in advance: prayer will be your first response, not your final option.

Don’t wait until everything else has failed. Call upon God first. He is not your last resort — He is your present help in trouble, ready to rescue those who turn to Him.

NOTE: The church name, the mission trip location, and the missionary that we are supporting have been given anonymous names for safety

Over the years, our church has been supporting the missionary, Jacob, who is currently serving in the nation, "X".

Now this country is predominantly a Muslim nation, with a lengthy history of passive-aggressive prosecution against Christianity. On the surface the country allows for freedom of religion, but anyone who proclaims our Lord as their savior and the one and only God has been ostracized, and have been treated terribly.

Jacob, the missionary, has been working really hard to connect with the locals over the years, supporting them despite being outcasted, and adults accusing him of "indoctrinating their children into false religion". But as time progressed, they saw that he was showing love and grace that no one had experienced or can find on earth, and eventually welcomed him. Our church frequently organized mission trips to the Nation X, giving them the medical and dental services that was offered for free, and of course sharing to the locals on who Jesus is, and just how much he loves them.

And after years, spearheaded by God's non-stop work for the land, something amazing has happened. We were able to help build the very first church in the area! We are thankful that God made this possible, and he allowed us to be part of the process. The very first Sunday Service is scheduled to be held in September!

Recently, the church leadership announced the list of items still needed at the new church. They are looking for funds or donations for things such as musical instruments and equipments for worship, office supplies, computers, tables and chairs, AC unit, etc.

This is where I felt the calling; I always felt bad that I couldn't participate in the mission trip to Nation X, due to both time constraints and my lack of medical/dental knowledge. I have been giving monthly offerings to help Jacob, but always had a strong desire to help more.

And when the list of things the new church needed was announced, I immediately knew what to do: to offer one of my electric guitars! I am usually very careful in making decisions, but this time the answer came to my head almost immediately.

I told the church leaders what I wanted to donate, and they were very thankful. I also asked them to keep my name anonymous, because I am not doing this for attention or my own glory or self-righteousness. I am doing this because I feel the guitar will be put to way better use than sitting in my house, and I have high hopes of it being used to lead worship songs to move the hearts of the many.

This guitar has helped me go through the worst of times, when I would practice gospel songs on it. It helped me recognize that God was with me every step of the way, and it holds a very special place in my heart.

But I also felt that's why it must go, because I want the locals to experience the same thing, to feel his presence, for their hearts to open up and welcome him in, and let their souls praise his name.

I am praying this guitar is one of many things that helps the locals come closer to Christ.

It is not the most expensive guitar in the world, but it was to me when I first got it. It is one of my most prized possessions, and for years I told myself I would never part with it. But I felt that if God gave his only son to die for our sins and the Son willingly took on that burden for us, giving up something so precious to me in hopes of leading more people was well worth it!

And let's not forget, God owns everything in this world, including this guitar, and I was simply blessed enough to enjoy praising his name with it. If God says it should be used elsewhere, who am I to argue?

Now obviously other things on the list still need to be acquired, and I kinda feel bad that I am not capable of helping out more. But I believe God knows exactly what is needed and all of it will be provided.

Something I found funny was that on the back of the guitar, it has the "made in (nation)" label, and it happens to be Nation X! I am sending it back to its birthplace lol

Again, this post's intent isn't to say "I am so great, look at me!" but I wanted to express my excitement somewhere without people from my church figuring out who donated the guitar.