Hosea 13:9
O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

This is true for all of us, isn’t it?  We’ve made such a mess of things, from Adam on down the line.  We’ve filled our lives with sin.  We’ve gone astray from the right path.  We’ve sought things that would only hurt us.  We fell into traps of the devil.  We’ve turned aside to pursue some lesser idol.  We’ve gone here and there looking into things we should have left well enough alone.  We’ve gotten dirty.  We’ve fallen down.  And perhaps we have gotten to a place where we really have destroyed ourselves.  What was once a life with so much promise has ended up a heap of ashes.

And as Israel faced their own ruin and reaped the consequences of their choices and their actions, God is there with a reminder of where their help must come from.  There would be no rebuilding the walls without the aid of Jehovah God.  There would be no return to the splendor of that glorious city of Jerusalem or the renown of the nation of Israel without God’s help.  They weren’t going to get out from under their captivity without His intervention on their behalf.  And there was no hope, really, for restoration without the life-giving redemption of God.

And so in our lives, as we’ve been torn down by sin and its effects, as we’ve destroyed what was once good and fruitful with our own poor choices and our rebellion, or as we’ve broken that bond we once had with our God, let us turn to Him for our help.  There is no other who can redeem us, who can bring us back from the brink of destruction and make us whole and new again.  There is great power in our great God to restore, to heal, to forgive, and to save.  And if we look to Him instead of ourselves or someone else, He can work mightily on our behalf.

The truth is, life in this world can get messy.  At times we can be overcome by sin or temptation or the lust of our flesh and we give in to that.  At times we get caught up in some things and can only watch helplessly as everything crumbles around us.  But there is hope and there is help in our merciful God.  And when we turn toward Him, when we reach out to Him, when we seek Him and forsake those other things, He responds to us and offers exactly what we need to rebuild.  It may take some time and it’s not going to be easy, but with Him by our side, it certainly is possible to rise up again.