God's Deliverance for the Righteous
As I have said many times, Christians are not exempt from afflictions. In fact, "many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."(Psalm 34:18,19) This is a precious promise from God, but there are conditions, which we need to know.
When God sees us having troubles, His heart breaks for us. He loves to bind up the broken hearts and to save those who have a contrite spirit. The contrite spirit is the key. If God sees that we confess our sins, and we are sincerely sorry for the ways that we fail, He is quick to save us from the affliction. The problem is that many of us are proud, and we do not want to admit our sins, much less confess them. Often, we do not feel contrite or even heart-broken, but rebellious. We get mad at God for allowing the afflictions. He will not deliver the proud or the rebellious, until we learn our lesson and humbly submit to His authority.
The other condition is being righteous. A Christian can be living in sin. That sin can cause afflictions. We can be sorry for our sin and confess it, but we have to be willing to repent and do the right thing. Then, God delivers us. Remember, the reason for our afflictions is to help us grow. We are to learn from our sins and shortcomings, so that we end up forsaking sin and living by God's design for our lives. That is when complete deliverance comes to us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 36-39.
When God sees us having troubles, His heart breaks for us. He loves to bind up the broken hearts and to save those who have a contrite spirit. The contrite spirit is the key. If God sees that we confess our sins, and we are sincerely sorry for the ways that we fail, He is quick to save us from the affliction. The problem is that many of us are proud, and we do not want to admit our sins, much less confess them. Often, we do not feel contrite or even heart-broken, but rebellious. We get mad at God for allowing the afflictions. He will not deliver the proud or the rebellious, until we learn our lesson and humbly submit to His authority.
The other condition is being righteous. A Christian can be living in sin. That sin can cause afflictions. We can be sorry for our sin and confess it, but we have to be willing to repent and do the right thing. Then, God delivers us. Remember, the reason for our afflictions is to help us grow. We are to learn from our sins and shortcomings, so that we end up forsaking sin and living by God's design for our lives. That is when complete deliverance comes to us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 36-39.