The Deliverer That Always Delivers: Finding Hope In Times Of Trouble
Sermon Link: The Deliverer That Always Delivers
*Inspired by Pastor Bernard's sermon.
When life's storms rage around us and the path ahead grows dark, where do we turn? In our fast-paced world of overnight shipping and instant gratification, we've become accustomed to immediate solutions. Yet the deepest troubles we face, the ones that shake our foundations and test our faith, rarely resolve themselves quickly. The truth is, we don't get into trouble overnight, so why do we expect to be delivered from it instantly?
The answer lies not in the speed of deliverance, but in the certainty of the Deliverer.
A God Who Hears
The ancient words of Psalm 34:17-18 ring with timeless truth: "The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and rescues them from all of their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted and he saves those crushed in spirit." This isn't a distant promise for some far-off day; it's a present reality for those who trust in Him.
Consider David, hiding in a cave, pretending to be out of his mind to escape his enemies. Alone, afraid, and seemingly abandoned, he was in the darkest valley imaginable. Yet even there, David knew something profound: he served a God who could deliver him not just from the cave, but from the very hands of those who sought his life.
What caves are you hiding in today? What enemies, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, seem to surround you with no escape? The same God who heard David hears you.
The Problem With Self-Reliance
Many people will hear your troubles, but how many can actually do something about them? We waste precious energy sharing our struggles with those who have no power to help, when we could direct that same energy toward the One who holds all power. It's like calling a doctor for an appointment, then telling them everything is fine when they ask what's wrong. If everything were fine, you wouldn't have called.
God already knows what you're going through. He wants to see if you'll be honest enough to admit it. He wants you to practice honest prayer; to confess your fears, declare your trust, and acknowledge that you need His help. This isn't weakness; it's wisdom.
The Transformation of Waiting
In our desire for immediate solutions, we often miss the spiritual value wrapped within our waiting. God's timing is perfect, even when it doesn't align with our preferences. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that "those whose hope is in God will renew their strength." But renewal requires transformation, and transformation can be painful.
Consider the eagle, which lives over seventy years but must undergo a painful transformation at age forty. Its claws grow too long to be useful, its beak becomes too tough. To survive, the eagle must break off its beak, pull out its feathers, and essentially start over. The process is excruciating, but it results in renewal and extended life.
Our trials serve a similar purpose. They don't come to destroy us but to transform us. The deliverer doesn't always remove the storm; sometimes He sustains us through it, using the pressure to refine our character and deepen our trust. There's no growth in overnight deliverance from troubles that took months or years to develop. The strength comes from walking through the fire, not around it.
Faith in the Furnace
Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow to a false king, they faced certain death. Yet their faith remained unshaken. When the king looked into the furnace, he saw not three men burning, but four walking around unharmed. God was in the furnace with them.
Or Daniel, who prayed three times daily regardless of who saw him. Cast into a den of hungry lions, he emerged the next morning using the beasts as pillows. This is what happens when you place your faith in God rather than circumstances.
Faith isn't a vague ideal or a feel-good emotion. It's a posture of active trust, believing in God's character even when you can't see the outcome. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We walk by faith, not by sight.
The Presence That Sustains
Perhaps the greatest assurance we have is this: we are never alone. Even in our darkest valleys, when we feel isolated and abandoned, God is close to the brokenhearted. Jesus promised, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
There's something about being alone that brings out fear in people. Conversely, being in a crowd can make us overconfident. But when you have God, you need neither solitude nor crowds to feel secure. God is the only factor that, when added to any equation, equals infinity. Anything else multiplied by one remains unchanged, but when you add God to the mix, everything transforms.
This is why you can worship in the midst of trouble. You can praise God while standing in your mess because you know who your deliverer is. And here's the secret: you cannot praise God and worry at the same time. Trouble itself will flee when you begin to worship, because worry and worship cannot coexist.
The Power of Testimony
When God delivers you, and He will, share your story. Revelation 12:11 teaches that believers overcome "by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony." Your deliverance isn't just for you; it's meant to encourage others who face similar struggles.
You might not be able to reach everyone, but you can reach someone. Your personal experience of God's faithfulness carries weight that no secondhand account can match. When people see how God delivered you from situations that seemed impossible, they begin to believe He can do the same for them.
A Present Reality
The deliverer that always delivers is not a myth or a distant hope, it's a reality to be experienced. Whether you cry out in the shelter of quietness, in peaceful morning prayer, in the middle of a raging storm, or in midnight desperation, God hears you. He sees you. And He acts on your behalf.
Your trust is not a denial of trouble but a surrender to the One who transforms trouble into grace. It's an acknowledgment that while you may not have control, you know the One who does. And unlike delivery services that sometimes fail to show up on the promised date, God will always arrive; not necessarily when you want Him, but exactly when you need Him.
So whatever storm you're facing today, whatever cave you're hiding in, whatever furnace threatens to consume you, remember this: the deliverer that always delivers is already on the way. He won't just show up; He'll show up and show out, exceeding even your wildest imaginations of what deliverance can look like.
The question isn't whether He'll deliver you. The question is: will you trust Him while you wait?
*Inspired by Pastor Bernard's sermon.
When life's storms rage around us and the path ahead grows dark, where do we turn? In our fast-paced world of overnight shipping and instant gratification, we've become accustomed to immediate solutions. Yet the deepest troubles we face, the ones that shake our foundations and test our faith, rarely resolve themselves quickly. The truth is, we don't get into trouble overnight, so why do we expect to be delivered from it instantly?
The answer lies not in the speed of deliverance, but in the certainty of the Deliverer.
A God Who Hears
The ancient words of Psalm 34:17-18 ring with timeless truth: "The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and rescues them from all of their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted and he saves those crushed in spirit." This isn't a distant promise for some far-off day; it's a present reality for those who trust in Him.
Consider David, hiding in a cave, pretending to be out of his mind to escape his enemies. Alone, afraid, and seemingly abandoned, he was in the darkest valley imaginable. Yet even there, David knew something profound: he served a God who could deliver him not just from the cave, but from the very hands of those who sought his life.
What caves are you hiding in today? What enemies, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, seem to surround you with no escape? The same God who heard David hears you.
The Problem With Self-Reliance
Many people will hear your troubles, but how many can actually do something about them? We waste precious energy sharing our struggles with those who have no power to help, when we could direct that same energy toward the One who holds all power. It's like calling a doctor for an appointment, then telling them everything is fine when they ask what's wrong. If everything were fine, you wouldn't have called.
God already knows what you're going through. He wants to see if you'll be honest enough to admit it. He wants you to practice honest prayer; to confess your fears, declare your trust, and acknowledge that you need His help. This isn't weakness; it's wisdom.
The Transformation of Waiting
In our desire for immediate solutions, we often miss the spiritual value wrapped within our waiting. God's timing is perfect, even when it doesn't align with our preferences. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that "those whose hope is in God will renew their strength." But renewal requires transformation, and transformation can be painful.
Consider the eagle, which lives over seventy years but must undergo a painful transformation at age forty. Its claws grow too long to be useful, its beak becomes too tough. To survive, the eagle must break off its beak, pull out its feathers, and essentially start over. The process is excruciating, but it results in renewal and extended life.
Our trials serve a similar purpose. They don't come to destroy us but to transform us. The deliverer doesn't always remove the storm; sometimes He sustains us through it, using the pressure to refine our character and deepen our trust. There's no growth in overnight deliverance from troubles that took months or years to develop. The strength comes from walking through the fire, not around it.
Faith in the Furnace
Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow to a false king, they faced certain death. Yet their faith remained unshaken. When the king looked into the furnace, he saw not three men burning, but four walking around unharmed. God was in the furnace with them.
Or Daniel, who prayed three times daily regardless of who saw him. Cast into a den of hungry lions, he emerged the next morning using the beasts as pillows. This is what happens when you place your faith in God rather than circumstances.
Faith isn't a vague ideal or a feel-good emotion. It's a posture of active trust, believing in God's character even when you can't see the outcome. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We walk by faith, not by sight.
The Presence That Sustains
Perhaps the greatest assurance we have is this: we are never alone. Even in our darkest valleys, when we feel isolated and abandoned, God is close to the brokenhearted. Jesus promised, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
There's something about being alone that brings out fear in people. Conversely, being in a crowd can make us overconfident. But when you have God, you need neither solitude nor crowds to feel secure. God is the only factor that, when added to any equation, equals infinity. Anything else multiplied by one remains unchanged, but when you add God to the mix, everything transforms.
This is why you can worship in the midst of trouble. You can praise God while standing in your mess because you know who your deliverer is. And here's the secret: you cannot praise God and worry at the same time. Trouble itself will flee when you begin to worship, because worry and worship cannot coexist.
The Power of Testimony
When God delivers you, and He will, share your story. Revelation 12:11 teaches that believers overcome "by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony." Your deliverance isn't just for you; it's meant to encourage others who face similar struggles.
You might not be able to reach everyone, but you can reach someone. Your personal experience of God's faithfulness carries weight that no secondhand account can match. When people see how God delivered you from situations that seemed impossible, they begin to believe He can do the same for them.
A Present Reality
The deliverer that always delivers is not a myth or a distant hope, it's a reality to be experienced. Whether you cry out in the shelter of quietness, in peaceful morning prayer, in the middle of a raging storm, or in midnight desperation, God hears you. He sees you. And He acts on your behalf.
Your trust is not a denial of trouble but a surrender to the One who transforms trouble into grace. It's an acknowledgment that while you may not have control, you know the One who does. And unlike delivery services that sometimes fail to show up on the promised date, God will always arrive; not necessarily when you want Him, but exactly when you need Him.
So whatever storm you're facing today, whatever cave you're hiding in, whatever furnace threatens to consume you, remember this: the deliverer that always delivers is already on the way. He won't just show up; He'll show up and show out, exceeding even your wildest imaginations of what deliverance can look like.
The question isn't whether He'll deliver you. The question is: will you trust Him while you wait?
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