Remember the “Help, I’ve fallen and can’t get up” ad?  The ad promotes a product to help those who have fallen physically and need assistance getting back to their feet. Do you ever feel like you fallen spiritually and just can’t get up? We could all use a lifeline from time to time.

There are several reasons that we may feel like life has gotten us down, and it would be easier to stay down than to get back up. Satan is counting on that. He wants to make us feel like the struggle isn’t worth it and that there is no help in sight. Let’s look at some of the ways we fall and the lifeline that is always there for us.

• Sin- When we sin we think we are too far gone to get back on track. We want to stay down and hide from God, but he came so that we can rise above our sin. He came so that we can be made right again and be restored to usefulness in his kingdom. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
• Grief- Experiencing great loss will sometimes paralyze us and leave us with an emptiness too vast to tread on our own. Of course, the greatest grief is the loss of a loved one, but grief can also be because of the loss of anything that we hold dear. Naomi knew this grief when she lost her husband and sons in the book of Ruth. It simply says Naomi was left. That’s the way grief feels. It feels as though they were left. Left with a broken heart. Left without hope. But there is hope. Psalm 147:3 tells us, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
• Sadness- Sadness can be separate from grief. It seems that we continually hear one bad thing after another and we just can’t lift ourselves out of the pit of sadness. We just want to melt into a puddle and stay there. Sadness can lead to an even deeper pit of depression. We have someone who cares. “But you, Lord, are a shield around me,my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” (Psalm 3:3)
• Lack of Direction-If we are unfocused and lacking direction we may be immobilized and be afraid to move one way or another, but God promises to guide us if we just ask. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)
• Exhaustion- Just as we get physically exhausted we can also get spiritually exhausted. When this happens, we need to take time out to rest and reevaluate our load to see if this is really what God has for us or if we are trying to do too much. He promises, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

We have a spiritual lifeline. He is not hanging around our necks close to our hearts. He is in our hearts waiting for our call. He will help us get up when we have fallen, bring us to our feet to walk with him.

“TheLordmakes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him.” (Psalm 37:23) (NIV)