Redemption....

I love how faithful God is to answer us when we come to Him with our honesty. This last week my friend sent me the book "Redemption" by Mike Wilkerson. It has been such a blessing already. So many of the questions that I have written over the last few weeks have already been answered and I am encouraged that the Lord hears me...or at least reads my blog. heehehe.  I wanted to share a few of the gems I have uncovered already.

In reference to the Israelites in Egypt...
" When faced with the dilemma of either trusting God for their freedom or seeing relief by appeasing Pharaoh, they chose Pharoah. they hoped merely not to sink in the sight of the Egyptians, so that some of their suffering might be alleviated. Had they forgotten how this ruthless slavery had driven them to cry out for deliverance? What "normal slavery" was it that they hoped to settle back into?"

I think so often that I have turned back to my slavery (sin) because I thought it would offer some initial relief, and just like the Israelites I so quickly forget that I had cried out to the Lord in the first place. What I love so much about my Jesus is that He does no abandon us despite our disbelief.

"God answered Moses' cry by reminding the people who his is and what he had promised to do. He didn't propose a new and less painful plan or apologize for how much worse things had become. Rather, He assured them with the same words he had spoken to them at first. His message had not changed. he is faithful to His word even when his people are faithless (2Tim 2:13) he would deliver them: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out... I will redeem you... I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God...I am the Lord" Ex 6: 2-8  Moses carried these hopeful words back to the people, but the people , because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery, would not listen to Moses. Their broken hearts resisted hope."

I feel like so many believers I know have resisted to hope because of their broken hearts, myself included. I would rather stay in the familiarity of my slavery then risk being disappointed by God. What if He doesn't deliver, what if He doesn't answer my prayers? How will I survive His silence to my cry for deliverance? OOOOh but wait there is an answer!!! I hadn't seen it this way, but of course now it makes perfect sense.

"The reasoning goes something like this: If God is trustworthy, and Jesus trusts him, then he wouldn't be hanging on the cross so shamefully; so it must be either that God is not trustworthy or that Jesus lacks faith. And those tend to be the very conclusions we draw for ourselves. We, like broken-spirited Israelites, find it nearly impossible to keep trusting God as circumstances worsen. (this does not fit my picture of redemption) We are tempted to believe that God has forsaken us and that all hope is lost. Or some naive Christian tells us that if we merely had more faith--if we just learned whatever lesson we're suppose to be learning---the pain would stop. But jesus experienced worse pain than you or I will everknow. We may fear the worst---abandonment by God---but He actually faced it. And he didn't stop believing."

Jesus prayed in the garden for the cup to pass from Him. He prayed to the Father to be delivered from the cross, but He wasn't. Why hadn't I seen the gravity of this example before? I have struggled with my prayer life for months now because I felt as though the Lord didn't hear me and He had 'abandoned' me. I had been praying so faithfully and doing all the "right things" why had God not saved my marriage or spared my broken heart. Jesus was perfect and he definitely did all the "right things" and God's will was bigger than what he had asked for. And God's will is perfect. I'm not sure what you might be facing or maybe even you feel betrayed by God but I know one thing....He is trustworthy. He didn't answer Jesus' prayer, the way Jesus had asked Him too, but in that He gave the greatest gift ever given in all of time. "We can be sure that our redemption is as certain as His resurrection." How exciting!!!! There is purpose in our torture, in our suffering, in our pain, in our time of being still. He has promised to work all things for our good to those that believe!!

Lord, help me to always believe.....