Quick deliverance or prolonged deliverance out of difficulties? Which is yours at present? Does it matter? How does it all work?

Some times in answer to your prayers, you are delivered from your trials and difficulties quickly. Some times God allows you to go through the hardships, difficulties, and trials with his presence and help with us. We cry out and say, are you there God? Do you see my issues? No audible or quick responses. Days, months and years go by. Which situation relates more to you at present?

We can see both examples in Scripture and people’s life experiences. Moses wandered in the wilderness forty long years as a shepherd of Father in Law’s sheep, after being grown up in the luxurious palace of Egypt as the son of the daughter of Pharoah. That was a sudden and unpleasant shift and severe testing in Moses’s life. Not just a couple fo few years, but for a long forty years. Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt after being born in his father’s house as a tender and loving child. He did not see a light at the end of the tunnel for a long number of years. Daniel and his three friends were placed in a blazing fire and then in a lion’s cave because of their faithfulness and trust in the one and only God in heaven. The disciples called Jesus when the wild and big storm hit their boats threatening their lives. Jesus stood up immediately and commanded the wind and rain to stop. Immediately the sea became calm. (Mark 4:35-41). That was quick. But another occasion, they had to toil through all the midnight hours fighting the dangerous wind in the sea in their boats until the fourth watch of the night. (Matthew 14:25-32)

You see both instances in the Bible. You may have prayed. God answered and helped to come out of your struggles. However, in other people’s lives, they prayed and nothing happened. When I look back at my life, there are instances when I prayed for deliverances and did not get help. However, there are few times I prayed, God answered my prayers quickly. 

Therefore what is the deal? Why your answers did not come yet. Why are you still in your severe trials and pains?

Listen: No trials or difficulties comes to you without first filtering through the loving and caring fingers of God. Nothing happens to you without His knowledge and permission. And when he does approve it, God has two choices in your trials and difficulties. God can either take you out of your struggles quickly. This is what we all want. However, His second choice is to let you go through it and show and teach you the power of His wonder-working and all-sufficient grace by holding your hand through it. David’s experience was more of this nature. He said in Psalms 23, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” 

Remember what Daniel and his three friends said amid their serious and life-threatening test? They said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

 This means even if God does not come for their rescue/deliverance immediately, they still know they are in good and delivering hands. They said no matter what we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. 

You and I do not have a choice. God chooses whether he would intervene quickly to deliver you or he would leave you in your testing and trials. Because God allowed it, He has a goal to accomplish through it. His plan and his goal determine whether you would experience an immediate delivery or a prolonged delivery. 

The examples in the past show if God leaves you there without intervening quickly, you would generally experience a greater miracle you would have ever imagined. In other God, if God let you leave there without sending deliverance quickly, you are up to witness a greater miracle- miracle of His wonderful and powerful grace. The reason is He is going to achieve a divine goal out of it and is going to be with you every step of the way, even if you feel it or not. And he will bring surprising goodness to you at the end that you would never fathom.   

Was this not true with Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, and Daniel? Was it not true with your forefathers who trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? It will be true for you as well.

When God allows us to go through it with his all-sufficient grace, we learn great lessons we would not learn in other ways.

Apostle Paul wrote his personal experience in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, “We want to remind you, friends, of the trouble we had in the province of Asia. The burdens laid upon us were so great and so heavy that we gave up all hope of staying alive.  We felt that the death sentence had been passed on us. But this happened so that we should rely, not on ourselves, but only on God, who raises the dead.” 

You see, the burden on him was so great and heavy. He gave up all hope of staying alive. He felt the death sentence has passed on to him. Then he says why this happened to him. He says, such heaviness and heaviness occurred so that he would not rely on himself but only on God, who can even raise the dead.

The first lesson we would learn in our night hours is this – we should not rely on ourselves, but only on God. This is heavy-duty learning, beloved. Because naturally, we would have difficulty in trusting other people. This carries over to the issue of trusting God as well. People have been bad for us. They left us. They gave us pain. They shut their doors. Hence we have a problem in trusting. Then how would you trust God who is invisible to your natural eyes? However, God your Father in heaven is not human. You can trust him and his goals for your life. He is the perfect Father with perfect love, protection, and care. Therefore you need to learn to trust God one hundred percent. 

You will learn the first alphabet of trust when God leaves you in your trials without delivering fast and quick. This aspect of full trust in God is cardinal for you and for people around you to bring down strongholds and giants. 

David developed the trust in God, I mean full and 100% trust in God, and that was the only reason he was able to face the giant Goliath and kill him and cut his head off. Before you accomplish anything great in the name of the Lord, you must learn to trust God fully and completely. Apostle Paul learned to trust God fully, Daniel learned to trust God, Joseph learned to trust God. The prophets of the old testament and all the disciples of Jesus Christ learned to trust God fully and completely. I believe they all learned to trust God one hundred percent without short circuits because they all experienced a prolonged period of trials and the miracle of grace in their lives. They experienced the miracle of the wonder-working power of God eventually at the end. And that is the goal for your prolonged pain and suffering.

A second thing to remember is this. From the previous experience of heavy burden and heaviness Apostle Paul experienced, he says this in 1st 2nd 2nd Corinthians 1:3-4 this, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 

Did you notice above it says, “God, our father in heaven, is the father of all compassion and He is the God of all comfort? When do we need comfort the most? What does he do in our trials? It says He comforts us in all our troubles. Not in few trials here and there. But he comforts us in all our troubles-small, medium, big and all troubles, He gives His compassion and comfort. He abundantly gives the miraculous and gracious comfort when we are in midnight hours of suffering. 

The second goal of your prolonged trial proceeds from this verse above. You become God’s hands and feet for those who are in trouble. You are going to comfort those in any trouble with the comfort you received from God when you were in trouble and pains. In short, God comforts and prepares you for a life long ministry to comfort others because you are now better fitted to comfort others who go through the same trials you went through. 

You see, only a drug and alcohol addict who was comforted and delivered by God can meaningfully comfort and help the one go through it now. When a person who lost his or her dear ones strengthens and comforts the one who through it now, there is more power and meaning behind it. It works in a better way. Such a person can testify and say God helped him and He can help you as well. There is the real power behind such words. God who gave Him miraculous, wonder-working grace and He pulled him through it all and that same God can help. Man, there is meaningful comfort in those words. Once your trial is over, you become a testimony to share the compassion and comfort you received with others. God is preparing another person who is ready to hear and accept your comfort and testimony. You and yours have a God-ordained ministry of comfort for the rest of life. 

Finally, God’s name and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified through it all. People in the world would see God did it and they would be amazed at the outcome. There is an opportunity for them to trust in the living God. Remember King Darius placed Daniel and these three friends in a lion’s cave. God did not deliver the Hebrew men from their severe trial. He allowed them to go through it. However, He was with them every step of the way. God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions. When King witnessed this, he made a decree and it said, “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.” Daniel 6

When King Nebuchadnezzar placed the three Hebrew men inside the blazing fire, he saw four men walking in the fire unbound and with no harm from fire. He said in amazement didn’t we place three men in the fire? But now I see four men walking inside the fire and the fourth one looks like a son of gods. It was not the son of the gods, but the fourth one was the pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ who walked with them right in the midst of that blazing fire. In amazement, the king asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” King praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants!” Then he issued a decree that said: “I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Daniel 3:26-28

You see the pagan king noticed the miraculous and wonderworking provisions and grace of God and praised His name. Through your prolonged trials, even the world, the believers and the unbelievers around you would praise and thank God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Now, are you in a prolonged trial and difficulties? I know one thing for sure -you are up to a greater measure of his miraculous grace. It deepens your trust in God to one hundred percent, it gives you a ministry of comfort to those who go through the same type of trials, it gives testimony to your friends and world about the existence and the truth of a loving God and His Son, Jesus Christ, the only savior of the whole world, who cares and comforts in all your difficulties and eventually delivers you from it all victoriously.  

Thanks, praise, worship and all honor to His matchless name.