阅读经文 

教会存在的目的时常被人误解了。很多人看到教会会友“自命清高”的态度，然而圣经的教导却是：“世人都犯了罪，亏缺了神的荣耀”。（参罗 3:23）

也有很多人视教会为一个灵命安歇或在物质上得福的地方。对那些忠心侍奉但生命中仍然有困扰和患难的信徒来说，这种错误观念令他们感到泄气。若借用航海用语来形容教会，它不是一艘军舰或游轮，它只不过是一艘救生艇。

诗篇一百零七篇形容的海员，在风浪中感到束手无策，他们无法控制船的去向，但他们“在苦难中哀求耶和华，祂从他们的祸患中领出他们来。”他们不能够倚靠自己的力量，然而他们却可以信靠耶和华的大能。

今天也是一样。神的话没有应许我们不会经历“死荫的幽谷，”但它却应许神与我们同在。（参诗 23:4）神断不会不理睬祂子民的呼求；祂垂听我们在患难中的祷求。

你是否在你生命的风暴中打转呢？倘若你仍在尝试单靠自己的力量来解决问题，倒不如祈求主在你的患难中与你同在和向你施怜悯吧。

The purpose of the church is often misunderstood. Many people see a “holier than thou” attitude among its members. Yet Scripture teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Many others see the church as a place of spiritual relaxation or material blessing. That misconception causes frustration for people who are faithful believers but still have trouble and distress in their lives. If we describe it in nautical terms, the church is not a warship or a cruise ship but a lifeboat.

The seafarers described in Psalm 107 were helpless in the storm. They had no control over the movements of their ship. But they “cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.” They could not rely on their own strength, but they could trust in the power of the Lord.

This is still true today. God’s Word does not say we will not experience “the valley of the shadow of death,” but it does promise that God is with us (Psalm 23:4). God does not ignore the cries of his people; he hears us in our distress.

Are you spinning around in a storm in your life? Rather than trying to fix things in your strength alone, ask the Lord to be with you in your distress and to have mercy on you.