My Strong Deliverer

One of the many things I learned as I matured out of my teen years was that every one faces hard times. I’m sure that anyone I ask would be able to tell me something that is going on in his or her life that is difficult.

When I think of human struggles in the Bible, it is the Israelites that first come to my mind. I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to be treated horribly as a slave and then to be delivered by God, only to find yourself in a place that makes you long for the life of a slave.  It’s easy for us to think of them as selfish and complainers- but it must have been awful in that desert if they longed to be slaves again! I’m sure they often wondered why their God of deliverance brought them more struggle.  Do we ourselves often wonder why God brings us struggle?

 Deuteronomy 8:2-3 reads:

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither   you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”.

 So I’d like to encourage you to think about how God might be testing you when you face struggles. What might God be trying to teach you? Is He trying to humble you? Maybe He wants to see if your heart is right behind your good deeds. Perhaps God wants to teach you to trust Him or to depend on His promises rather the promises of the world. What ever your struggles might be, look for how God might be working through them to deliver you. It’s always a little more encouraging to focus on how God is working in us rather than focusing on how Satan is working to get us! If we allow Him, the God who delivered the Israelites will deliver us too!