“The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me…He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Psalms 18:4-5, 19, NIV). In this Psalm King David had been attacked by powerful enemies and his reign was in jeopardy but God powerfully intervened and strengthened the king and he was rescued from tribulation. How does this apply to Christians?
Under the new covenant believers have no geographic kingdom in this world (John 18:36) and “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world” (Eph. 6:12, NIV). We also have the enemies of general corruption around us that damage us, the enemy of our old self which tries to take us from Christ and the enemies of death, sickness, loneliness and lack of provision for daily living.
Sometimes these enemies coalesce into an overwhelming tidal wave of tribulation. We feel like our blessings are done and life feels pointless. Pain and fear become hurricanes that make us feel puny and defenseless. But God is still there. If we trust him and abide in Christ as best we can, then we will be rescued from tribulation.
Remember God’s words in Romans 8:38-39 (NIV):
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the verse prior to this passage Paul promised that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37, NIV). He is saying that our victory is that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love (v. 35). If we have Christ’s love then we have his companionship and all the blessings he promises in this age and the next. Our hearts will be protected and rescued from tribulation. We may get hurt by our trials, but our inner self and our spiritual condition will be safe.
We don’t absolutely need to have the things that we are losing in our tribulations. If we focus on the temporal things we are losing then we lose focus on the superior things that we are gaining. God cares about our circumstances and often delivers us from suffering but even if he doesn’t we need to keep our focus on what we do have. If we look to him then our souls will be rescued from tribulation. His supernatural power is available in this life, and we will see him deliver us from terrible circumstances, but he also allows suffering.
In some places Christians die for their faith and leave their children orphaned or lose their spouse to a martyr’s death. They lose what is most dear to them in this world but they haven’t lost what is most valuable in their lives. One day he will bring us to a spacious paradise because he delights in us.
In the midst of your distress are you able to believe that your soul will be rescued from suffering? Can you take comfort in that?
