Yesterday I received an email during church and since I was on call, I had it on vibrate if I had to leave for a patient or family with hospice. When opened, it was from a nurse now in labor having her first child. We had joked about setting a date and I choose August 1, which is my birthday. Her text made me smile because she apologized because it was happening one week earlier. At lunch with my wife, I sent someone a message I would be visiting her father in a facility and she replied she was in the middle of a crisis and call her friend, a team member for more information. The lady's boyfriend had a swimming pool injury and had been sent by helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital. Vicki and I considered driving the seventy miles to be with her but God sent a cousin of the injured man, a pastor, to be with them and have prayer.
Sometimes the events of life fall on us like rain and we cannot escape them but continue to walk eventually being soaked to the skin. We wonder where God is and why he does this to his children. The Bible says "all" things work for the good, but in the turbulent times of life we may wonder why. No one is exempt from the troubles of life.
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; Psalm 34:19
Troubles happen no matter who we are--believer or non-believer. Some of the troubles are self-created from wrong behavior, attitudes or ethical choices. Others may be sent from the enemy but used by God to refine and perfect us. Then again, some may just happen because of the fallen condition of this world and everyone in it. In the Psalm 34, the very word, deliver, refers to being snatched or drawn out, such as a shepherd would do with a sheep which had become entangled in briers or a pit. While Psalm 50 tells us those who have forgotten God do not have someone to "deliver" them, we can be assured God will deliver us.
Lastly, we know the God who delivers is also the God who plans. In those plans he has the best for us--prosper and not harm and for hope and a future. Prosperity does not mean wealth as today but the Hebrew speaks of understanding and insight. What a great gift God gives to those who love him--insight and understanding of his acts and actions. Just as Joseph understood the dreams God had given him which led to his position as second to Pharaoh, those who have been given understanding then can see God's actions clearly. He also gives to those a second promise--no harm. If deliverance speaks of salvation, then harm would be destruction and God gives us a future.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
The circumstances of our life may be like the ups and downs of the ocean, but don't worry, for Jesus calmed the storm, both the winds and the waves, and his disciples wondered what sort of man this Jesus was. You know! The tomb is empty and you have a future because the tomb IS empty.
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