Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A Strange Thing to Say

Psalm 34:1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Let the afflicted hear and rejoice? Why should someone who is afflicted or in humble circumstances rejoice about anything? A statement like that borders on madness to the people of the world, but to us it should make alot of sense. We are told to bless the Lord at all times, to let his praise always be on our lips. We are told to glorify the Lord together, but why?

Here's the punchline: 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

I can tell you that in all my years on this earth, this has been true for me. I have sought the Lord and he has delivered me from all my fears. When a person can offer this testimony in truth to another person, isn't that a powerful thing? We all have many problems, troubles, fears, tribulations etc etc. But what does our God say to us? REJOICE! Why? You will be delivered out of all of it.

I look at every problematic situation in life like I am backed up against the red sea with the eqyptians bearing down on me to kill me. I have one hope and that hope is Jesus. If he does not come through for me I am finished, but he has ALWAYS come through for me so why be anxious? Yea, the situation around us may look hopeless but we do not live by sight....we live by faith.

If we do not stand on our faith we will not stand at all. When Satan or his servants are bombarding your mind with fearfull thoughts, that does not mean you are faithless or doubting the Lord, it just means you are being attacked. Being attacked is part of our life as believers. How we respond to the attacks is what really makes the difference. While the enemy is throwing everything in his arsenal at us, we must respond in faith. We must go back to the word of God and hide ourselves in the refuge of the promises.

I am less than a nobody, but the Lord would have this nobody tell you today that these words have been true for his entire life: 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. If they have been true for me, they can be true for you. We have not all been believers as far back as we remember, but we can all start today to lay hold of our God's promises and fight back against the attacks of the enemy through rejoicing and thanksgiving. The world may laugh at our madness at rejoicing in the face of problems, but I doubt they will laugh at being delivered from every one of them. Results speak for themselves.

We do not worship a God who sits silently in the skies on his hands while we suffer through life. Everybody suffers, the wicked for their wickedness and the righteous for their righteousness, the difference is we are delivered from all our fears and troubles. We just have to stand on the promises and be patient to wait for our God to deliver us. He knows the timing of all things. He knows when and what you need for help. We must trust him. Trust is another way of saying we must have faith in him.

This nobody of a brother is sharing with you today that our God can be trusted to deliver in our time of need. Ask , seek, knock for EVERYONE who asks receives. Stay in his word, be encouraged today, keep the faith, pray without ceasing, rejoice and give thanks in every situation for that is our God's will for us:

1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

We are dearly loved children. grace and peace