Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’ Job 1:20-21 NKJV.

First responders are the first medically trained personnel to arrive on the scene of an accident or in response to a call for help. First responders are our police officers, firefighters, search and rescue teams, Rangers, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics. In the most dire of situations, in the face of trauma, they are trained to remain calm, act quickly, assess the situation, and provide life saving treatment.

First responders take vital signs, stabilize broken bones, stop the bleeding, and perform CPR to return the rhythmic beat to a stopped heart. In the event of a crisis or trauma, we want a first responder to come to our rescue.

Who is your first responder? Do you run to a girlfriend? Your mother? Do you run to your spouse or a close ally? Maybe you run to all of those people. Do you, as I sometimes do, get quickly caught up in the emotion of the event or crisis and forget to pray until there is no other option? Are prayer and worship your last resort?

Suddenly, Job lost everything– his livestock, his servants, his children, his home. But his first response was to worship. Prayer should be our first response. Jesus is our first responder. He is the only one who can truly triage our situation. Whether we need a lawyer, a doctor or a friend, Jesus has promised to be our counselor, our healer, our comforter.

The Lord told Moses, tell Pharaoh, I AM. And He is. During the most challenging of situations, the Lord has shown himself strong in my life. He has been my lawyer, my counselor, my comforter. During the most amazing times of my life, God has shown himself to be a provider and a father who loves to shower gifts and blessings on his child. He has been and is the I AM.

In Psalm 27 David wrote,

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this will I be confident” (Psalm 27:1-3.

I challenge you, as I have been challenged, to allow Jesus to be your first responder and prayer and worship your first response. You will find like I, Job, King David and so many others have, that our God is more than enough.