Rescue or Peace?

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NIV

I believe God is in the business of redeeming and rescuing people who are out of options. The Bible is full of near-death experiences where people are trapped....surrounded....at the end of the road. Jonah. Joesph in the pit. Talk about betrayal by your own family! Daniel. Isaac on Mt. Horeb. But God provided a way out: A way with its detours, perhaps - and through places we would rather not go - but a way nonetheless.

So when we feel we have exhausted all possibilities, and still there is no rescue or alternative plan, remember this: God is faithful to keep His promises. We are to be faithful to seek God, and to live in holiness by His grace, and He will guide us. "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him." Colossians 2:6

God who makes rivers flow in the desert can make a way for us.

Hang on.
Keep the faith.
Do not be discouraged.

Then, we remember the image of a Son upon a cross who was not granted a SWAT team rescue. For Jesus, there was no way out of the cross; no deliverance. And some may wonder, why not? Why Jonah and not Jesus? Why Daniel and not me? In the searing pain of our grief when we encounter loss in life, we may cry, "Where's the way out, Lord?"

We know there are times in God's own wisdom it appears that He chooses not to intervene or to provide the kind of deliverance we are seeking. We feel as though we are abandoned in the pit.

Desolate.
End of the road.
That is not the answer for which we prayed.

Just when we are ready to turn our back on God - if we will stop flailing about in anger - we may discover that we are not alone in the pit. No matter the depth of our darkest days, God's love is deeper still. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. God is faithful to provide sustaining strength for that which we endure. He alone is able to give peace.

He is the Prince of Peace.
He is Emmanuel: God with us.
A river of Living Water runs through the wasted places of our lives!

Behold, He is doing a new thing. Shall we not perceive it?

(Handwritten notes from my Journal, 2000. I had been reading something by Max Lucado ten years ago, and his words and mine intermingled. Any use of his direct quotations is unintentional, but inspired by Max. I recommend him.)