Expectation Of A Real Deliverer!

December 19

Expectation Of A Real Deliverer!

There is a great deal of suffering in our world today! 

Suffering comes in the form of fear and sadness. 

Suffering comes in the form of abuse and oppression. 

Suffering comes in the form of lost hope and no help. 

Suffering comes in the form of loneliness and grief.

Suffering comes in the form of violence and conflict.

Suffering comes in the form of no acceptance and no love. 

Suffering comes in the form of anger and bitterness.

Suffering comes in the form of racism and agism.

Suffering comes in the form of no purpose and no promise. 

Suffering comes in the form of an unforgiving heart and a closed mind.

There is a great deal of suffering in our world today!

It is easy to become pessimistic, cynical, and calloused as well as skeptical, discouraged, and unkind.  I see people respond to suffering by marginalizing people they do not like or understand.  I watch people reject Jesus and His love because they no longer believe Jesus has the power to change things.  I observe people make the choice to live in denial of the pain and suffering in our world by tuning out the news or depreciating the intensity of the suffering.  It is easy to lose hope.

In the midst of suffering, we need something more.

+We need to be delivered from our pain and suffering as well as from our cynicism and discouragement.

+Our country needs to be delivered from its pain and suffering as well as from the injustice and intolerance that it allows. 

+Our world needs to be delivered from its pain and suffering as well as from the violence and greed that define so many. 

There is a great deal of suffering in our world today!

We need a deliverer to bring us to a new way.  We need a liberator to show us real freedom.  We need a savior to give us abundant life!  The good news is we already have a deliverer! 

While the people in the kingdom of Judah suffered greatly, a preacher named Isaiah brought the Word of God to them.  The Word of God was meant to restore hope for a suffering people, help for a people experiencing great pain, and healing for a broken people.  The Word of God was the promise of a deliverer.

Yes, the Word of God contained a word of judgement if the people did not return to the Lord.  But, the Word of God was mostly about a faithful and loving God who was with and for His people.  In other words, if the people would return to the Lord God with all their heart, mind, and soul, the Lord God would give them a deliverer who would bring them through all their pain and suffering.      

In Isaiah 9:4 the preacher writes; “For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you (the Lord!) have broken as on the day of Midian.” 

The people would be delivered from the pain and suffering as well as the intolerance and injustice.  The people would be liberated from the burdens and hardships as well as the abuse and oppression in their lives.  The people would be saved from the violence and greed as well as the self-centeredness and brokenness in the world.

I have more hope in the promise of a Savior who comes into our lives, into our country, and into our world than in the promises of new legislation, new political leaders, or new government policies.  The people of Judah heard the Word of God in a way that gave them the same hope.  Their hope was in a Savior who would come to deliver, to liberate, and to save.

I imagine you know someone who is experiencing a great deal of pain right now.  Maybe they have an illness that is causing physical pain.  Maybe they have gone through a divorce that is causing emotional pain.  Maybe they are struggling with a difficult choice that is causing mental anguish. 

There is a great deal of suffering in our world today!

You know someone who is suffering more than most.  It is not difficult to imagine they no longer possess the assurance they are loved and accepted and forgiven by Jesus.  It is not difficult to imagine their soul is not at peace and their heart knows no joy. 

Take an opportunity to sit with them for a while this week.  Listen to them and let them know you love them. 

When the Holy Spirit creates an opportunity, ask Jesus for the courage to tell your friend that even in the midst of their great suffering, our Savior Jesus is with them to deliver them through the mess, to liberate them from the heart-ache, and to save them for an abundant life on the other side of their suffering.

When they begin to trust there is a Deliverer coming who will break whatever is oppressing them, their hearts will begin to fill with delight in the promises of God.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug