July 30, 2018
On Jesus we have set
our hope that He will continue to deliver us.
2Cor 1:10
Believers don't fear
the future, but trust God to deliver them through the struggles ahead.
It’s easy to read the letters of Paul in the New Testament
like he was a mega-church pastor exhorting his multi-site church with well-prepared
messages. But that’s not at all the
case.
Paul was a traveling evangelist, not a well-paid position,
starting little house churches in various countries. He had dozens of challenges and barriers –
everything from language issues to terrorist level persecution. When Paul wrote, he often needed help either
due to his imprisonments or poor health.
While others lived the comfortable life at his expense, Paul constantly
maintained a faithful lifestyle. His
persecutions and trials were beyond what most martyrs ever faced, and he
eventually died for his faith.
This is the Paul that writes a follow-up letter to the
Corinthian church and encourages them that our source of hope is not found in
bank accounts, life comforts, or superior intelligence, but in Jesus
alone. It won’t be the Roman government
or the Jewish army that will save them, but faith in a story about a Jewish
carpenter.
Notice that Paul didn’t talk about deliverance as a one-time
event. Paul saw deliverance as a daily
activity of God. Deliverance simply
means rescue from something you have no ability to escape. Paul believed that Jesus was our source of
deliverance all the time, every day, from sin AND suffering. If we were to ever escape the dangers of
life, it would only be through the grace of God given by Jesus and His death on
the cross. That’s why Paul could remain
faithful, because he anticipated the deliverance of Jesus every day.
Our culture doesn’t see Jesus as a daily deliverer. We like to act like we have control and power
to deliver ourselves, and only call on God for the few situations we need
Him. What we don’t see is that we need
God’s deliverance from temptation, sin habits, idol attractions, and satanic
attack. Our only hope as believers is
not just in Jesus to save us from hell, but to save us from the world.
When we realize the Deliverer is working every day for us,
it allows us to stop fearing the future and start counting on Him to decide the
future. Every problem becomes a
possibility for God’s deliverance. Every
crisis is a way for the Deliverer to prove His salvation. Our relationship grows stronger when we keep
looking to the Deliverer to save us and lead us, and that grows our hope.
If you’re facing some struggles, check out who or what your
hope is in to deliver you. Maybe it’s
time for a new Deliverer for your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment