Insulated Saints?
I wonder if you felt the buzz or heard the jarring tone of the public safety notification—a statewide 9-1-1 emergency services outage. Though we can dial up our local police and fire departments directly, the idea that the system we rely on in a crisis can be knocked out can be an unsettling reality. Suddenly, the cover has been torn off—the best of human help is limited, even fleeting. As I type this out, according to the latest report, the authorities still don’t know what happened. Safety is more fragile than we often assume. And yet, the Bible teaches us that in a crisis, there are safety services that can never fail.
Listen to God’s unfailing safety services in Psalm 34:4-7:
“I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are uradiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and wsaved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.”
If one were to cross-examine the Psalmist, they might raise and objection: “Surely, he has not delivered you from all your fears and all your troubles!” Surely, God doesn’t insulate the saints. Consider Paul, who said on behalf of the apostles, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted by not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Add to that a shipwreck, a stoning, and a litany of other hardships, and the evidence seems scant for a God who never fails to hear and answer prayer.
At times, God may seem like the 9-1-1 services that dipped out today. But here’s the difference. God is devoted to a more significant plan of salvation than the first responders in our cities and towns. The Lord is saving the souls of his people, which includes trials of every kind. That’s right—crises are part of His saving plan for us. While we suffer through hardship, prayers for strength to endure are answered. Pleas for patience and provision are met. Cries for renewed faith and hope are granted, and opportunities to testify to the grace of Jesus are plentiful. He may spare us from pain, but when immediate rescue is withheld, we can know from God’s certain Word that He’s working out a more significant rescue—the salvation of our souls. And so, next time we place a 9-1-1 call to the Lord in prayer, regardless of what we perceive the response to be, rescue is on the way.
