His Story of Goodness, Part 3: Deliverance

From the LORD comes deliverance. (Psalm 3:8)

1 Samuel 10:19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses...

God's character of love shows forth from the many ways he rescues people from their troubles. Each one of us have been in dire straits and have seen "a turn of events" that brought us out of the midst of our trial. The temptation is to credit it to some impersonal fate or to pure luck, but the true reason behind our turn-arounds is the good hand of the Lord.

We are admonished to remember the benefits of the Lord, who heals and redeems our life from calamity:

Psalm 103:2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion...

Many times deliverance comes in response to our prayers that we might attribute the deliverance to God our Savior. Other times, he delivers unconditionally. He does this because He is good.

The Bible gives historic accounts of great deliverances from the Lord. When the people of God were subject to cruel slavery in Egypt, He delivered them through Moses:

Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey..."

Even when the people were rebellious and fell into calamity, He heard them when they cried out:

Psalm 106:43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. 44 But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; 45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.

The promises of God's deliverance in Scripture are abundant. He delights to heal, rescue and save. That is why it is good to trust Him in all things at all times.

His Story of Goodness, Part 2: Earthly Care

The invisible hand behind our well-being in this life is the Lord. We are clothed, we are fed, we are sheltered, we have provision, we have loved-ones. The list goes one. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." says James in the Bible. The good things that we take for granted flow from the good heart of the Lord God Yahweh--The God who made heaven and earth; the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I have been cared for. The divine hand has been opened to us. Each of us has a debt of gratitude which we owe.