Friday, May 12, 2017

Ambush

Friday, May 12, 2017
O Lord, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced.  Save me, for you do what is right.  Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly.  Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe.  You are my rock and my fortress.  For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.  Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone.  I entrust my spirit into your hand.
My future is in your hands.  Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.  Let your favor shine on your servant.  In your unfailing love, rescue me.  Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.  Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16(NLT)
Life can be something of a minefield, and anyone who has lived more than 30 seconds on planet earth understands that.  The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are full of examples of the ambush traps laid for the unsuspecting:
·       Cain killed his brother Abel after luring him into the fields. 
·       King Saul chased young David into hiding in caves, running for his life. 
·       Joseph, the son of Jacob’s old age had brothers who were so jealous they threw him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. 
·       The Hebrew children of Israel were slaughtered by Herod’s maniacal paranoia when he suspected a king had been born among the Jews who would take his throne.  Herod was right about the birth of a King, but it wasn’t Herod’s throne Jesus would claim; that was way too small a crown.
In the struggle between good and evil which has been ongoing since the Garden of Eden, human beings have always found themselves with toils and snares on every side just waiting to pull the ambush trigger!
You’ve had days where it seems like the deck was stacked against you, or like dominoes falling, the bad news kept getting worse.  Amos delivered a sermon about such times:
In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion— only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house— and he’s bitten by a snake.  Amos 5:19(NLT)
The apostle Paul was taken prisoner because of his faith, shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, and left for dead.  Still, he faced life’s difficulties with faith in God:
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  2 Corinthians 4:8(NLT)
Another man bequeathed to the world an indelible sense of hope in Christ through a song he wrote.  John Newton was an 18th century slave ship captain.  He became convinced of the sinfulness of what he was doing and stepped out of that evil to serve Christ.  It was not easy, but as the words of his song proclaim, grace became the release for every trap the enemy set in his way:
Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come
'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home

For You Today

So…been beaten for your faith?  Chased by a lion?  Come face to face with a bear?  Bitten by a snake?  Shipwrecked?  Under a death sentence?  Thrown into a pit?  Sold by your family into slavery? 
Not today?  You’re ahead of the game.  Give thanks and keep trusting in His grace!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
NOTES

 I Title image:  See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

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