Pauline Joyce Meyer, an American Charismatic Christian author once remarked: “God hears and He sees, and you are not alone in your struggles. Remain firm and stable, for God has your deliverance planned.” Psalm 34:17 confirms: “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”
Deliverance is defined as the means of being rescued or set free. It includes such acts as liberation, emancipation, delivery, salvation and redemption. God’s deliverance is primarily focused on the measures of providing freedom to those in bondage, under threat of danger or suffering adversity.
One of the first probable instances of God’s deliverance to His people is narrated in the book of Exodus, chapters 1-18 of the Bible. It recounts the story of the freedom of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians and their safe journey to Mount Sinai under the guidance and leadership of the prophet Moses.
Moses was a Hebrew infant child who was placed in a basket and set adrift on the River Nile to save him from certain death under the decree of Pharaoh. He had become concerned that the Israelites were rapidly increasing in number and posed a possible future threat. It was ordered that all newborn male babies should be killed to help alleviate this problem. Moses was found by Pharaoh's daughter as she bathed in the river, secretly adopted and brought up as an Egyptian in the Egyptian royal household.
God, by the precious gift of His Son and the subsequent death on the cross, became our Redeemer and Saviour. Colossians 1:20-22 reminds us: “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
Redemption is important to all. It remains one of the key factors to eternal life. By asking for forgiveness for our sins or misdeeds and receiving God’s absolution, our life is renewed and we become free from sin. Leonard Ravenhill, an English Christian evangelist and author once remarked: “Redemption is a magnificent thing… the life of God in the soul of man.” Romans 3:24-26 confirms: “And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”.
Doorstep deliveries of household groceries and provisions from supermarkets have become a regular feature in life for some. During the height of the recent pandemic, they were essential to those who were considered at risk or vulnerable and unable to venture out to the shops for fear of infection. What better way to obtain a weekly shop than by ordering online and having everything required delivered to the door in plastic baskets?
For a nominal cost and sometimes even free, lives can be transformed. The mundane, but necessary task of shopping can be made so much simpler and less troublesome. There is no worry of driving to a supermarket, no incurred expense of fuel, bus or taxi fares, no necessity to park in busy car parks amongst the many others on the same pursuit. No problem of actually finding the items one wants to buy or replenish, no queuing at the checkout to pay for the items, no loading the car and then transporting the goods home. Life takes on a new role of simplicity. Struggles become freedom.
In the United Kingdom, supermarkets have an infuriating habit of constantly moving items around the store to different aisles after a certain period of time. This is done in a deliberate attempt to increase sales. The more items they can sell, the larger the profit margin. A person will often proceed to a specific aisle to locate a particular product that they have previously purchased, only to find that the relevant item has been moved to another place in the store. This increases the time spent in-store and enhances the chances of revealing many unusual items that one would not normally ever consider buying.
The same ploy is used with sweets, often additionally located at the checkout, to entice the taste buds of children shopping with their parents. Management know that during the wait to be served, children with their love of sweets, will notice the vast array and often ask their parents to purchase something for them. So, the continual movement of goods around the store and the placing of specific items on the lower levels of stacked shelves, become noticeable to children, achieving a similarly desired effect. Sometimes when we can’t find the items we are looking for, the struggles begin. We don’t know which way to turn to find what we need. Isaiah 30:21 states: “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
Frustration and irritation abound when items that one urgently seeks have been moved to another aisle and no staff are available to help. We seek guidance and yet there is no one there. It can result in a person feeling helpless and totally without support. One may feel like standing in an open space in the middle of the store with the extreme urge to scream and pull their hair out in exasperation. We can also feel the same way with other trials and tribulations in life. However, if we seek it, God is there to save and redeem us by his word. He can also provide an alternative, but unique, home delivery service. Unlike a large store with a definite lack of available staff, He is constantly there for us. If we ask for help, He is always willing to guide us. Psalm 32:8 confirms: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
For those who are incapacitated, the home delivery service is essential, unless one has a kind and caring neighbour, relative or friend willing to undertake the task on their behalf. Although it was tragic and heartbreaking that the pandemic caused so many deaths and separations in family unity, it did in certain respects provide a needed sense of community spirit, where one looks after another. It brought concern and aid to vulnerable people wherever possible. So what is the best way to bring God home and provide the necessary food in our lives, just as the supermarket delivery van driver does? God never ceases to provide constant nourishment in our lives. When we read the Bible, we learn how to live a beneficial life, to assimilate the true wonders of God and perhaps more importantly, the way to allow God into our hearts and receive His unstinting love. Luke 12:24 reminds us: “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” Just as we are dependent on food to sustain life, we also need God. He also feeds us with the necessities of life.
When that doorbell rings and we rush to the door to greet the delivery driver, in the expectation of receiving the ordered provisions, we could also open the door to God at the same time, as He is also a great provider. In the book of Genesis, Jehova-jireh was the location where Abraham was tested by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. However, as Yahweh provided a ram to be sacrificed in the place of Abraham's son, this place was called: "God will provide." If we have faith and trust in Him, He will deliver our every need. Without Him, we can't receive the fulfilment of life. We can't experience eternity. We live without satisfaction. We may sacrifice ourselves, instead of a ram. Philippians 4:19 confirms: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Amen.
