—Colossians 1:13-17 (NIV)
The word rescue invokes so much powerful, yet tragic, imagery for me. A child dangling from a rooftop, people trapped in a burning building, an oncoming car and the inevitable crash of steel hitting steel. There are times in everyone’s life when they are in need of rescue. The Lord not only realizes this, He has already sent the rescuer.
Are you familiar with the peril of needing immediate assistance? I sure am. I had proverbially set the building of my life on fire. The blaze was burning out of control and I was choking on the smoke. Jesus was my only hope, and if not for his immediate response, I would have spiritually burned down with it.
God is interested in your everyday life. He’s very interested in your spiritual walk with Him as well. It’s often the moments of severe unrest in our lives that work as a spiritual vacuum, landing us before the throne of the living God, bringing us to our knees in an instant. God is not far from His children who are in distress.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NIV) You are His child and He is with you in this mess. The enemy would love for you to believe that He has abandoned you—that He relishes in punishing you. The truth is far from it. He’s not only close to you, He is willing to help you. Indeed, He will rescue you. You are never too far gone, too much of a lost cause, too much of a special case. God had His rescue plan ready and raring to go long before you cried out to Him. So often our go-to inclination during times of great distress is panic.
Imagine the feverish cries of a frustrated child. Red-faced, out of breath, repeatedly crying out in agony. That’s a pretty accurate description of how I landed at the Lord’s feet once embroiled in the biggest mess of my life. I hovered over my Bible as if it were a direct line to God. I prayed on my knees, on my belly, facedown, tears pooling in the carpet. I had God’s promises on speed dial, soaking them in, drinking them down like medicine. I was desperate for God. I had known Him before that. I thought I was in a great place with Him. But I had drifted and I felt it. Deep down in my bones, I missed that intimacy I once had with Him. I was on the hamster wheel of life and had no idea how to get off. God had an idea. It piggybacked off my not-so-good idea that landed me in the mess to begin with. My mess led to a dark place, darker than the blackest night. Only the bright light of God’s love was left in my world. It turned out, it was all that I needed. Nothing else mattered. All I could do to survive was eat and breathe Jesus. God was rescuing me from the dominion of darkness, realigning my compass until it pointed straight back at Him. He rebuilt my spirit one day at a time, changed my circumstances, changed my perspective. But the real spiritual growth, the breaking down of strongholds came not when I was red-faced and screaming like an unruly toddler, but when I quieted my spirit, sat at the feet of Jesus, and opened my heart and mind to Him.
“Be still and know that I am God,” the scripture tells us. (Psalm 40:10 NIV) We need to be still, to trust, to build faith like a muscle. God has a better plan, a better way. He’s leading me down that path. And He’s ready to do it for you, too.
Lord, thank you from the depths of our soul that You not only rescued us, but that You give us the grace to go through the storm. We are assured by Your perfect Word that You will deliver us safely to the other side. Although the ship sways and falls apart, You will land us where we need to be regardless of our circumstances. Thank You, Jesus, for enveloping us like a vessel. One in which we can dwell in as we go from strength to strength and land on the other side of this life into Your loving arms.
Praise You, Jesus, in the storm. You control the weather. We have no doubt that You will blow our ships to the destiny that awaits us and lead us calmly into safe harbors.
May we be bright lights to a dark world for Your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Day 12
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
—Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
If you’ve given your life to Christ and come to Him in full repentance, offering your best to obey His commands, you already have it all. But life isn’t so simple, and as we continue this journey, there will be needs to be met—a goal, a dream, financial aid, or anything in between. God cares about your desires no matter if it’s to find a great parking spot at the grocery store or to be healed of a devastating disease. God cares for you, as simple as that. Learning to trust God to meet our needs and guide us on this journey called life, not only do we have to surrender our complete trust in Him, but we have to bring something really big to the table—faith. The very definition of faith
