It’s May 1st! If you were in Russia, today would be a national holiday. Traditionally, May 1st – or May Day, as it was called – was a time to celebrate Russia’s military accomplishments, strength and prowess. In more recent years, the holiday has evolved so that the focus is more on a time for labour organizations to conduct protest parades and to air grievances against their government. But, there are also family celebrations, parties and fireworks. Actually, the celebrating and holidays can go on for all of the first week of May.

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!!! It’s the international emergency call that has been used by pilots and captains of aircraft and ocean going ships. Some historical sources suggest that Fredrick Stanley Mockford, a British radio officer, created the term for distress calls in 1923. He was working with planes flying between an airfield in London and Paris, and was asked to come up with an easily understood term for a distress call. He chose the French phrase m’aidez, “help me.” For the English pilots, it was ‘Mayday.’

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you needed to scream “Mayday!” I’m pretty sure that everyone has had a mayday – or several mayday – situations in their life. Maybe it was a serious illness, the death of a loved one, financial crisis, a marriage breakup, … There are times in life when we can feel overwhelmed and it seems like we are bombarded with demands and stresses from every direction. Our strength and faith can be tested.

Fortunately, when we have a relationship with God, we can direct our ‘Mayday’ cry to him. His word tells us that, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.” Psalm 34:15

Depending on your ‘mayday’ experience, why not use these scriptures for encouragement and direction:

Fear: II Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 13:6

Anger and Frustration: Ephesians 4:26, 27; James 1:19, 20

Healing: Isaiah 53: 4 and 5; James 5:14 – 15

Lonely: Psalms 129:1, 2; 147:3

Depressed and Stressed: 1 Peter 5:7; Isaiah 41:10; Philippians 4:6, 7

Faith: James 1:6; Luke 17:6

Finally, let’s not forget Thanksgiving, an important part of a Christian life regardless of the circumstances.

Psalms 28:7: The Lord is my strength and shield. My heart trust in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song!!!

God bless you.