SEPTEMBER THEME — “SEEING THE CROSS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”

Join us in praise and thanksgiving as Belmont Baptist Church celebrates our Year of Jubilee—fifty years of God’s unfailing faithfulness, rejoicing in answered prayers, saved souls, transformed lives, sustaining grace, and the finished work of the cross as we look forward with confidence and declare, “Thank You, Lord, for fifty years—to God be all the glory!”

BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART

I WILL DELIVER HIM

Psalm 91:15 , “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I WILL DELIVER HIM, and honour him.”

TROUBLE DOES NOT GET THE LAST WORD

There are four tremendous promises packed into Psalm 91:15: “I will answer him… I will be with him… I will deliver him… and honour him.” Yesterday we rested in perhaps the most comforting promise of all: “I will be with him in trouble.” God does not always prevent the trouble, and He does not always immediately remove the trouble, but He promises that His child will never face it alone. But God doesn’t stop there. After saying, “I will be with him in trouble,” He adds, “I will deliver him.” That means trouble may be part of my story, but trouble does not get to write the ending. The valley may be real, the battle may be fierce, and the night may be long, but none of them has the final authority over the child of God. Whatever God allows me to enter, He remains sovereign over how long it stays, what it accomplishes, and how He ultimately brings me through it.

DELIVERANCE DOESN’T ALWAYS LOOK THE WAY I EXPECT

When we hear God say, “I will deliver him,” we naturally imagine the answer we want. The cancer disappears. The relationship is restored. The financial crisis ends. The prodigal comes home. The door opens. The pain stops. The problem goes away. Sometimes God does exactly that, and when He does, we ought to praise Him loudly. But biblical deliverance is bigger than getting the outcome I requested. Sometimes God delivers from the fire, and sometimes He delivers through the fire. Sometimes He changes the circumstances, and sometimes He gives supernatural grace to walk through circumstances we desperately wanted Him to change. Sometimes deliverance comes immediately, sometimes gradually, and sometimes the ultimate deliverance comes when God brings His child safely Home. The three Hebrew children understood this. Standing before Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace, they said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.” — Daniel 3:17. They absolutely believed God could deliver them. But then they added, “But if not…” — Daniel 3:18. Their faith was not dependent upon God delivering them in the particular way they wanted. Mature faith believes completely in God’s power while surrendering completely to God’s wisdom.

SOMETIMES GOD DELIVERS YOU FROM IT

There are moments when God reaches into impossible circumstances and simply changes everything. Israel stood at the Red Sea with Pharaoh behind them, mountains around them, and water before them. There was no human solution. Then God opened the sea. Peter was chained in prison, but God sent an angel and the chains fell off. Paul and Silas worshiped in jail, and suddenly an earthquake opened the doors. Never become so cautious about God’s sovereignty that you stop believing Him for miracles. Pray boldly. Ask specifically. Believe that nothing is too hard for God. There are still Red Seas only God can open, chains only God can break, doors only God can unlock, and situations only God can change. Faith doesn’t tell God how He must deliver, but faith never forgets that He is able to deliver. Maybe you are facing something today that cannot be solved by human wisdom, money, medicine, influence, explanation, or effort. Bring it to God. Don’t reduce your prayers to the size of your resources. When you have reached the end of what you can do, you have not reached the end of what God can do.

SOMETIMES GOD DELIVERS YOU THROUGH IT

There is another kind of deliverance that may require even greater faith. God does not always remove the furnace. Sometimes He meets us inside it. The three Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace. God could have extinguished the fire before they entered it, but He didn’t. Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and cried, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt.” — Daniel 3:25. God did not keep them from entering the furnace, but He did not allow the furnace to have the final word over them. Notice something remarkable: the fire burned the ropes that bound them, but it did not destroy the men who belonged to God. Sometimes the very thing Satan intended to destroy you becomes something God uses to loosen what had you bound. The fire may touch your circumstances without being allowed to destroy God’s purpose for your life. Looking back, you may recognize seasons when you prayed, “God, get me out of this,” but God answered, “I’m going to walk you through this.” You wouldn’t choose the valley again. You wouldn’t ask for the pain again. But you know Jesus today in ways you did not know Him before you entered it. Sometimes deliverance isn’t escaping the valley; sometimes deliverance is discovering that the Shepherd was sufficient all the way through it.

GOD’S DELIVERANCE OPERATES ON GOD’S TIMETABLE

The hardest word associated with deliverance may be wait. We call upon God, believe His promise, and then expect something to happen. Tomorrow comes, and nothing changes. A week passes. A month passes. Sometimes years pass. Then the enemy begins whispering, “If God were really going to deliver you, wouldn’t He have done it by now?” But delay does not mean abandonment. Joseph had a dream from God, yet between the dream and its fulfillment were betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and prison. God had not forgotten Joseph in the prison. God was preparing Joseph in the prison. The place that looked like proof God had abandoned him became part of the road God used to position him. Never interpret God’s silence as God’s absence or God’s delay as God’s defeat. You cannot see the entire story from the chapter you are living today. God can. What looks like a delay from where you are standing may be perfect timing from where God is sitting.

DELIVERANCE MAY BEGIN BEFORE MY CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE

We often think deliverance begins when the problem disappears. But sometimes God begins delivering us while the circumstances remain exactly the same. He delivers us from the fear that controlled us, the bitterness that consumed us, the anxiety that kept us awake, the need to understand everything, or the demand that everything turn out our way. The situation hasn’t changed, but we have. Yesterday we couldn’t sleep; today there is peace. Yesterday we were consumed by “What if?”; today we are saying, “Even if, God will still be God.” Yesterday we were desperately trying to control the outcome; today our hands are open before the Lord. Don’t overlook that miracle while waiting for another one. Sometimes God’s first act of deliverance is breaking the power the trouble has gained over your heart.

“WE KNOW NOT WHAT TO DO: BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON THEE”

Jehoshaphat faced an enemy Judah could not defeat. He prayed, “For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” — 2 Chronicles 20:12. That may describe exactly where you are today. You have done what you know to do. You have prayed, thought, talked, tried, and searched for an answer, but finally you have to admit, “Lord, I don’t know what to do.” That isn’t necessarily the end of faith. It may be where faith really begins. Jehoshaphat didn’t know what to do, but he knew where to look. His eyes turned away from the size of the enemy and toward the greatness of his God. Then came God’s answer: “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” — 2 Chronicles 20:15. There are situations where God gives us something to do, and obedience matters. But there are also things only God can accomplish. You don’t always have to know what to do when you know where to look. Pray. Obey what God shows you. Trust. Wait. Watch expectantly. Keep your eyes upon Him and leave God’s part to God.

THE TUNNEL IS NOT THE DESTINATION

Imagine traveling through the mountains when the road suddenly enters a long tunnel. For a moment, everything that had been visible disappears. You cannot see the mountains, the sky, or the road far ahead. All you can see is enough light for the next portion of the journey. But nobody enters a tunnel believing the tunnel is the destination. You keep moving because you know the road continues beyond what you can presently see. Trouble can feel like that. Your world becomes dark, your vision becomes limited, and you cannot see how the story could possibly turn out. But the darkness you are traveling through is not necessarily where your journey ends. Never mistake the tunnel for the destination. God knows where the road emerges because He can already see the other side.

MY DELIVERER IS GREATER THAN MY TROUBLE

Perhaps today you don’t know how God will deliver you. Neither do you know when He will deliver you. And you may not know what His deliverance will ultimately look like. Faith does not require you to pretend you know something God has not revealed. But you do know Who is with you. The same God who said, “I will be with him in trouble,” also said, “I will deliver him.” Therefore, I don’t have to manufacture the ending. I don’t have to manipulate God into giving me the outcome I desire. I don’t have to understand the road before I trust the Driver. I can say, “Father, deliver me from this if that is Your will. If You choose to take me through it, give me grace for every step. If I must wait, keep my eyes upon You. Whatever You choose, don’t let this trouble steal my confidence in who You are.”

I MAY NOT KNOW HOW GOD WILL DELIVER ME, BUT I KNOW MY DELIVERER—and that is enough for today.

WARFARE PRAYER

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I stand upon Your promise, “I will deliver him.” You see the trouble before me, the battle around me, and every fear trying to rise within me. I declare that my trouble is not greater than my God. Satan, you will not use delay to convince me that God has abandoned me, uncertainty to steal my peace, or circumstances to make me question His goodness. Father, where it is Your will, open the Red Sea, break the chains, change the circumstances, and do what only You can do. But if You choose to lead me through the fire instead of around it, let me discover Your presence there. Deliver my heart from fear, my mind from anxious imaginations, and my hands from trying to control what belongs to You. I confess, “Neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” The battle belongs to You. My life belongs to You. The outcome belongs to You. I will pray, obey, trust, wait, and watch expectantly because my Deliverer is faithful. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

DAILY CHALLENGE — STOP WRITING THE ENDING FOR GOD

Identify the one situation today from which you most desperately want God to deliver you. Tell Him specifically what you desire, but then deliberately surrender how, when, and what His deliverance should look like. Write these words somewhere you will see them throughout the day: “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT MY EYES ARE UPON YOU.” Whenever fear begins predicting how badly the story will end, stop and say, “I don’t know how God will work this out, but I refuse to write the ending before God does.” Then take whatever next step of obedience God has clearly placed before you and leave the miracle to Him. TROUBLE MAY BE PART OF MY STORY, BUT TROUBLE DOES NOT GET TO WRITE THE ENDING. GOD DOES.

“I WILL DELIVER HIM.”

WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS

Britany Smith

Darlene Kelley

Darlene Thaxton

Ginny Ford

Susan Bankston

Kim’s McClain’s Mother

Nancy Brown – Rehab

Rob Davis