The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance

“I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.  Jeremiah 1:8 (NKJV)

God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally – “Your life shall be given as a prize to you.” (Jeremiah 39:18) That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartbreak and distress (see Matthew 6:19-21; 24-34). Having proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves (see Matthew 5:9-12, 38-48). Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say “Why should I be treated like this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence Jesus says “Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard – we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).

From My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers, updated by James Reimann

More wisdom from Oswald Chambers:

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When we have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.