ME-ssentials – Rescued – Day Nine
ESSENTIALS for Me to Be: RESCUED
September 9th, 2021
What’s your ESSENTIAL?
Essential: absolutely necessary; indispensable; the essence of a thing; inherent and intrinsic, vital
Psalm 40:1-3, ‘I waited and waited and waited some more, patiently knowing God would come through for me. Then, at last, He bent down and listened to my cry. He stooped down to lift me out of danger from the desolate pit I was in, out of the muddy mess I had fallen into. Now, He’s lifted me up into a firm, secure place and steadied me while I walk along His ascending path. A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how He breaks through for me! Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many will see His miracles; they’ll stand in awe of God and fall in love with Him!’ (TPT)
What a story of redemption and praise! It is my story too; truly. I was in that trench, that grave, tomb, and mine wasn’t a proverbial pit, but a for-real one. I had been sifting through the layers that kept getting deeper the more I floundered, and it was becoming apparent to me, I had no way out. Desperation had begun to settle in, and every devastating and desolate, discouraging and despairing disaster that you can imagine rose pending around me. My story not only affected me but many others so I saw no way out. I was giving up; I was almost fed up with waiting for some breakthrough. The difference was, I had been waiting on myself, and on others, trusting in my own abilities to work something out, continuing to place my hope in those around me who had no more hope or ability than I did.
It wasn’t until I cried out to the Lord! And He met me in that place. He spoke to me; He knew my name and all about me. He knew my story. He promised me that He would deliver me from the pit I had gotten myself washed up in, that He would rescue me, and redeem the time I had spent lost there. He assured me He would set me on solid ground and there would be something new for me to speak about to others so I could share His faithfulness and grace with many who found themselves drowning like me. But, He said to me, I had to do something also; I had several instructions. I had to trust Him, be obedient and let go.
That was over two-and-a-half years ago, and my life is nothing like it once was, nor am I the same person. Not many from my life before have stayed on this journey with me and I truly have had to practice daily, sometimes multiple times even, the instructions He gave me, to trust Him, to be obedient and to let go. I have had to let go of everything I knew and everything I was and very little has remained. I have had to step out in obedience when I never knew the first thing about obedience, or about trust. He has been so faithful, and every promise He spoke to me, He has kept, and then some.
It is essential to allow ourselves to be rescued by a Holy God. It is essential to hear His voice and to let ourselves believe that He will do what He says He will do. It is essential to let go of all the trappings of this life and reach for what the Lord intends instead. He has my and your very best interest at heart and He will not fail us when we cling to Him. Like someone who had fallen into a mineshaft, deep and dark and dank, He purposed to bring me up out of its recesses so I could walk unharmed and free, out of the dusk and into His glorious light.
