The God of Deliverance

The God of Deliverance

How many of you love the story of King David? I do! He’s my favorite Bible character. One of the reasons we love him so much is because of all the obstacles he overcame before becoming king. At a young age he conquered a lion and a bear, then went on to conquer an almost 10 foot giant with only a sling. After this, he moved into the palace where he had to overcome a jealous king who wanted him dead. It wasn’t until his own trusted men wanted to kill him for not protecting their wives and children that he himself could finally become king. Nearly all of David’s formative years were extremely difficult, yet in Psalm 68 he writes this; “God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.” Psalm 68:2. David knew what he was talking about when he called God, “The God of Deliverance”. If anybody could start claiming negative over their situations, it was David! Yet David calls God, “ The God of deliverance”. This is actually one of the names of God, and is translated “El Lemosha”. David gave us this name of God only after he had faced all of his adversities and placed his trust in the God of Deliverance rather than in the pain of the situation.

My Problems

Often times, when our lives get difficult and uncomfortable, we find ourselves claiming ownership of the negative circumstances rather than the deliverance God promises us. Our faith starts to wane, which leads to feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, and soon, we start saying things such as “my crazy life, my allergies, my terrible job, my out of control spending” and so on. You may think, “what’s the problem with that, lots of good Christians talk like this!” The problem is, when it comes time to let go and get deliverance, it will be so much more difficult. Why? Because we’ve been claiming ownership of the negative rather than the deliverance. When one tough situation after another has bombarded you, and stress has begun to mount up, how long does it take until you find yourself telling others “MY anxiety has been through the roof lately! There is just too much on MY plate”. As Christians, we know that it’s by our words and actions that we display faith. So why do we claim ownership of the negative in our lives, and thereby display faith in the difficult situation rather than God? Don’t you think God would rather us claim ownership of his promises than of the negative of life?

The question we need to ask ourselves is this, is God the God of my deliverance, or am I claiming the negative situation to be God of my life? Let go of the pain, and like David, allow God to be your El Lemosha, “The God of Deliverance”.