Psalms 91 14-16 (NIV) “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Ever feel like you need rescued? Rescued from a life situation, from your own choices, from your emotions and fears? Even when we have been ultimately rescued by faith in Jesus, we still need His healing rescue so often. At least, this has been my experience. We so consistently fall short of how we were designed to operate. I’m thinking of struggles with anger, anxiety, addiction, and apathy. These are just a few of the areas in which I continue to fail in various ways.
Some of us ignore these failures, stuffing our feelings of inadequacy, and pushing forward. Others of us become overwhelmed with feelings of shame to such a degree it can be immobilizing. But, we trap ourselves by choosing either of these paths.
For the former, we trudge forward in life which seems good. God wants us to “forget what lies behind and [strain] forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13), right? The problem is these small things build up and before we know it we’re putting a band-aid over deeply infected soul wounds. If we don’t allow these wounds to be properly treated the mess is going to seep through. Soon, we’ll be limping through life, and it won’t be the aroma of Christ we have spread!
For the latter, we see with a magnifying glass the messiness and severity of soul wounds created by our poor choices. This awareness can cause us to live an immobilized and isolated life. Away from helping others and away from the lifegiving relationships of community.
Whether we focus outward on accomplishing or inward on self-loathing and guilt, we neglect doing what is needed: looking upward. For the doer, God isn’t coming to rescue you because you keep doing. For the self-recriminator, He isn’t waiting to bring His rescue until after you have properly shamed yourself. Both tendencies keep us from the rescue the Lord is waiting to bring us.
In the past, I have been confused about why God rescues me. And all to often, I forget how much I need Him. In many different passages throughout scripture the Lord states His reasons for rescuing us. 1 John 4:19 states “we love because He first loved us”. The ultimate and only reason He rescues is because of His great love, ours is simply an extension of what has been given by Him. Our love for God does not initiate the rescue, it merely allows our experience of it as we say yes to what He freely offers.
This passage states we experience His rescue because we love (v 14)Him, we acknowledge (v 14) Him, we call (v 15) on Him. Never will we do this perfectly. But, if we have accepted His Son’s death for our sins, we have called on, acknowledged, and loved Him. To do so again is like the first time. When faced with our brokenness we realize that we do not, of our mortal selves, have what is needed to move forward in a healthy way. We admit to ourselves and our God what we are doing is not working.
Guess what? God isn’t surprised. His Word says in Psalms 53: 2, 3 God looks down from heaven on all mankind…. there is no on who does good, not even one. So, why are we? The only ultimately good and healthy things in this life come from the Creator God. He has placed no limits on his willingness to bring rescue to all those who call on His Name. What are we waiting for? Let’s call on the Creator of our bodies and emotions, the original Physician, to bring His rescue and healing to our soul wounds!
RECOMMENDED UPLIFTING SONGS:
Rescue by Lauren Daigle
Rescue Story by Zach Williams
So Will I (100 Billion X) by Hillsong United