Is He your Preventer or your Deliverer?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “A fresh start in a new year”

Our Bible verse for today: “He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us.” 2 Corinthians 1:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Is He your Preventer or your Deliverer?”

Is God your Preventer or your Deliverer? It’s an important question posed by author John Eldredge and the correct answer is “He is both.” Some day in heaven, as all the moments of your life on earth are reviewed and revealed, you will be astounded to discover how often God was at work behind the scenes quietly protecting you and preventing bad things from happening to you. Without question, He is your Preventer.

But also, often, He is your Deliverer. Although sometimes He does prevent things from happening to you, very often, in His divine wisdom, He allows you to experienced the impacts of life in a broken and sin-filled world. He also allows you to experience the consequences of your own bad choices. But then if you will come to Him, He brings you through them and delivers you out of them. In such cases He was not your Preventer but He was your Deliverer.

Now, which is better? And the answer is, “It depends.” It would certainly be nice to never experience anything bad happen to us. But I think we would quickly come to take that for granted and we would soon not really appreciate the God who is at work behind the scenes of our lives serving as the Great Preventer of bad things. But when He delivers us … when we have been experiencing some of the bad that life throws at us and God steps into the middle of the mess and delivers us … then we get to experience Him in a much greater, deeper, and more personal way than if He had just quickly and secretly prevented the thing from happening at all.

I want to end by quoting the entire passage from Paul out of 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. We need more than just verse 10 in order to catch Paul’s full meaning, “We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed – beyond our strength – so that we even despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us.”

The Apostle Paul knew God not just as his Preventer but also as his Deliverer. And as a result, Paul’s faith was stronger than it would have been if God had just quietly and secretly worked behind the scenes and prevented any bad thing from ever happening.

As you begin this New Year of 2025, are you working through or recovering from some life experience that has left you shattered and broken? Or perhaps, are you dealing with the long-term effects of past bad choices and you want 2025 to be a fresh start in a new year? If so, God is currently at work in your life acting as your Deliverer. He is bringing you through it. Give prayerful thought now to what you are learning about Him as He delivers you, and consider if perhaps you are growing and becoming stronger because of it.

We will think more about this tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Share this:

Related

Leave a comment Cancel reply