GOD'S EVERLASTING LOVE "Distress" emphasizes a different aspect of living by faith. Whereas "tribulation" accentuates what puts pressure upon us, "distress" underscores the EFFECT it has upon our spirits or more precisely, our souls. Our souls remain subject to both higher and lower impulses lofty expressions of the new man, and debased expressions of the "old man." When it comes to the matter of "distress," we are not speaking particularly of sin, or immorality, as ordinarily conceived. However, "distress," like all inferior and fleshly expressions of the soul can surely lead us to sin. That is why David spoke to his soul. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance" (Psa 42:5,11; 43:5). Here is where the "distress" of our text takes place. Tomorrow:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39, NKJV)
The word "distress" means "anguish," pain, or torment within. It involves trouble that places a strain upon our emotional and thought processes. It is the result of being put into a narrow place where we have no mobility a sort of spiritual claustrophobia. "Distress" is like an olive press that crushes our soul, causing sorrow to rush like a mighty rapids into our beings. It tempts us to worry and fret, and tends to pull our attention toward the earth and temporal concerns. There is nothing pleasant about distress.
"Distress" takes place when all of our own resources run out, and no earthly or natural alternatives are placed before us. It is like Paul spending "a day and a night in the deep" (2 Cor 11:25), or Joseph being in the pit (Gen 37:28- 29). Jacob declared God heard him in the day of his distress a time when his heart cried out for the Lord (Gen 35:3).
When men gathered themselves to David at the cave of Adullam, they were all people for whom life had become a burden. They are described as "every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented" (2 Sam 22:2).
David spoke of the cries that erupted from him when he was in distress. "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears" (2 Sam 22:7). He also said the Lord had redeemed his soul "out of all distress" (1 Kgs 1:29). When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild walls, the people were in a state of great discouragement. He said to those poor souls, "Ye see the distress that we are in" (Neh 2:17).
Distress tends to make us smaller, draining our resources. Therefore, Divine help is sorely required. When that help is received, we can say, "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" (Psa 4:1). With great tenderness the Lord has revealed His strength is for those who are in distress. "For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast" (Isa 25:4).
In distress, trouble rolls over us like mighty waves of a turbulent sea. Thus Jeremiah lamented, "Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death" (Lam 1:20).
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning various questions pertaining to marriage, he said it was probably better not to consider marriage at that time, because of "the present distress" some form of unusual and distracting trouble that was occurring there (1 Cor 7:26).
Do not think that such an experience cannot happen to you! David frequently said, "In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and He heard me" (2 Sam 22:7; Psa 18:6; Psa 120:1). The question put before us is whether or not "distress" can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or more particularly, from the love of Christ. Can those times of trouble that push you to the limits of your natural abilities put you beyond the reach of the love of Christ? When every earthly resource dries up, and your back is against the wall trouble chases you into the ravine of fear have you been separated from the love of Christ. Has a wall been raised between and Divine love, so that the invigorating power of that love cannot get through to you? That is the question before us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I know that I am journeying in a strange land, often facing trouble that takes all of my strength from me. I know the feeling of distress, anguish, and inner torment. In the name of Jesus, grant me grace to be wise about these experiences, and not naive. Help me to cry out with power to You, who alone are able to save.