Psalm 121
My Story
When things get super busy, I tend to feel stressed and overwhelmed. This was especially true in college, when it sometimes seemed as if there weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. My friends were great encouragers, reminding me that I always got everything done, and this time would be no different. But that encouragement wasn’t enough. I needed to look for help elsewhere. God was the only one I could depend on to take away my overwhelmed feeling. And the God who made the universe and set the planets in motion actually wanted to do that! When I take my stress, and my overwhelmed self, to God and ask for help, to ask for peace and rest from worry, that peace is almost always immediate. The stuff (whatever it may be) doesn’t go away, but with God as my helper, I know that I can get through it.
Your Story
Tell your family about a time when you depended on God as a helper. What happened?
The Bible Story
Read Psalm 121. The Psalmist reminds us that not only does the one who watches over us never sleep, but it is the Lord himself who watches over us! As parents, you watch over your children. But as human beings, we all have to sleep. However, the God who watches over us and stands beside us never sleeps. He is always there, no matter what. We can depend on God to help us, even if that help is simply a feeling of peace instead of worry, or determination instead of fear. The Lord keeps watch over us wherever we are and wherever we go. There isn’t a place we can go where He isn’t beside us. In the Book of Common Prayer, there is a petition that says: “Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give Your angels and saints charge over those who sleep. Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest Your weary ones. Bless Your dying ones. Soothe Your suffering ones. Shield your joyous ones, and all for Your love’s sake.” What a wonderful prayer to remind us that God is always there, watching, loving, soothing, and tending to us.
Discussion
• Ask your children if there has been a time in their lives when they asked God for help. Talk about that situation as a family.
• Talk about how God has helped your family in the past.
• Are there places in your life as a family that need God’s help?
Prayer
Ask God for the help that you need. Thank Him that He watches over you and never tires.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
Kevin Head began serving as Minister to Young Families at First Baptist Roswell, Georgia, in February 2012. He has pastored three churches in Kentucky and more recently served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Lumberton, North Carolina. In 2007, Kevin and his wife, Amy, began a ministry-based counseling practice called New Perspectives for Life in East Cobb, Georgia. He is a graduate of Furman University (B.A.) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D., M.Div.) in Louisville, Kentucky. Kevin was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Belvedere, South Carolina. His model of ministry is based on John 8 and the amazing, continual grace of Jesus Christ. Kevin and Amy have two children, Jenna and Joshua.
