Trouble is Temporary! God Has a Plan to Redeem You!

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Do you ever feel lost? Do you ever feel like you’re in trouble and discouraged crying out Lord, where are you in all this? Lord, are you going to help me? I don’t know what to do. These thoughts reflect discouragement and frustration and anyone could have thoughts like this in difficult times. But, should you allow yourself to become discouraged and give up on God? Absolutely not! I would chase discouragement out of your life like you’d chase a dog with muddy paws back out your kitchen door! Instead, remember the words of Jesus as He described the troubles that would one day come upon this world. He said, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28 (NIV) Jesus is your redemption and help! Run to Him, not from Him in times of discouragement!

God is truly amazing and He is always thinking about the redemption of His children. He wouldn’t be thinking of redemption if something didn’t happen that created the need for it. Satan sees to that. He hates us and that will never change. Mankind—even the unsaved, is created in God’s image and because of that, Satan wants to destroy us. But Christians are His prime target. Beyond his attacks on our life, we do sometimes make mistakes that get us into trouble. Because we live in this sin-filled defiled world, the infection and influence of evil contaminates our life. No one is completely free from it. Nor was Jesus! We all feel it! We are all surrounded by it. And we need God’s redemption.

Throughout the Bible, the word redemption refers to a price being paid in order to redeem or purchase something back. That is what God did for us. He bought us back and the purchase price was Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins and for our redemption through His suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead. Redemption refers to salvation, but salvation means being made whole and complete. That is God’s desire for His people and always has been. David knew and understood that and it kept him grounded in his trust in the Lord—even when his life felt like chaos and He didn’t know what to do.

Listen to his heart in Psalm 130:6-8 NIV. “My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning… O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” David knew God’s heart was to redeem us in our troubles!

Samuel anointed David, King of Israel, yet little did David know that it would be 15 long years before he actually became King. David went through hurtful, hard, heart-wrenching times. There surely had to be times when he felt confused and thought that what Samuel promised on behalf of God, was all a crock. If he had those weak moments, he continually pulled himself out of them! He trusted God and knew He was faithful to every promise. He kept his heart in faith, even when he didn’t have a clue what to do.

There was a time when he was being chased by King Saul. It wasn’t fair that Saul was jealous and wanted to kill him, yet it forced David to be on the run and hide from Saul’s army. He was concerned about his family, his parents, and those he left behind. He didn’t have it all figured out as you see in these verses:

1 Samuel 22:1-4 (NLT) “So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and other relatives joined him there….Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Would you let my father and mother live here under royal protection UNTIL I KNOW WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO WITH ME?” The king agreed, and David’s parents stayed in Moab while David was living in his stronghold.”

Did you read those words, “…until I know what God is going to do with me?” David didn’t have everything figured out. He wasn’t sure what God was doing. He simply knew God was with him and he needed to trust God and walk it out. God provided for his parents. God provided for him. God provided for his men. It would have been so easy for David to think God had abandoned him. His life seemed like it was in worst-case chaos, yet David knew in his heart that God had a plan, was faithful to His Word, and trusted God was working it out. His plan of redemption eventually came, and so will yours!

Today, just know what David knew and clung to and rejoiced in the words from Psalm 130:6-7: “My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning…put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption.” Say them, meditate on them, and pray them. Let them keep you grounded as you, like David, are figuring out how God is going to work things out for you. He is our redeemer who has already paid for and redeemed your life from Hell. He will redeem the plan for your life ahead. Trust Him in that!

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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