PSALM 34:19 – Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all

THEME OF THE DAY. TWO CERTAINTIES IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. There are two absolute certainties in today’s scripture. We may rest assured these two things will be true in our lives. As God’s children, they are both realities and promises. The first one doesn’t thrill us too much. In fact, it probably doesn’t thrill us at all. It is the certainty of suffering or in the words of David, “the afflictions of the righteous.” The Apostle Paul reminds us that suffering is ordained by God in the life of His people for their good – For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have (Philippians 1:29-30). So, don’t rebel against afflictions. Don’t try to change circumstances. Don’t complain when life gets hard. God is behind all these painful experiences. Besides, they are certainties that we cannot remove or avoid.

But now comes the “good part” – the second certainty or promise given to the Christian. It is the truth that deliverance from all our afflictions will come. All our seasons of suffering; all those times of seemingly endless pain; and all those late nights lying awake with tears of sorrow will be over – But the Lord delivers him out of them all. However, we must understand the timing of the deliverance is not ours, but the Lord’s. And it is hard when the floodwaters of suffering are washing over our hearts and the Lord delays in our deliverance. Emotional, spiritual, and physical afflictions drain the best of believers of energy and make us vulnerable to the fiery darts of doubt from the evil one in those seasons of afflictions (Ephesians 6:16). Here is where faith is both tested and matured. It is when God chooses not to deliver us in our afflictions when we ask or desire that we face the greatest challenge to our trust in Him. Every believer knows the heart-wrenching experience of being placed in God’s “waiting room” for His help and deliverance. But here is where the promise of the deliverance settles the heart. God’s promise of deliverance is sure and waiting on it does not make void the promise. And ultimately, the fulfilled promise will be in heaven when total deliverance from sin, Satan, and self occurs.

So, when the afflictions common to all Christians come upon us, draw strength from today’s scriptures. It will remind us of the certainties, not only of our call to suffer as followers of the Lord Jesus, but of the certainty that the Deliverer Himself, the Lord Jesus, will be true to His promise to deliver us from all afflictions – maybe in this life but for sure in the next!

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the deliverance from all my afflictions, either in this life or the next.”

QUOTE: “Rest in God’s promises of your deliverance from all your suffering. He will be true in His timing.”