Rescue Plan

 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  Job 23:10

I heard Sheila Walsh ask the question, "Have you ever thanked God for not answering something you had prayed for?" She was referencing a time in her life when she had checked herself into a mental hospital. She suffered from deep depression and anxiety issues. She also had the memory of her father's mental illness, which was the result of a severe head injury. Eventually he had committed suicide. All of this converged upon her that first night in the hospital. She was terrified. She said she then prayed that the Father would take her out of her nightmare, that He would take her home to Himself. She then added, "But that wasn't His rescue plan." She said that He was not going to take her out of her nightmare but walk with her through all of it until He brought her out onto the other side of it. And when He did, she would not be the same person. Her rescue plan was an escape that changed nothing. His was a journey and relationship that would change her forever.

I know exactly what Walsh speaks of. I remember so well the deep darkness I walked through more than 30 years ago in the midst of my own nightmare. I remember the pain, the fear, the despair I felt. I never contemplated taking my own life, but I deeply wanted Him to. I wanted out of my nightmare. Like Walsh, that was not His rescue plan for me, and like Walsh, He meant to walk through all of it with me and when He had brought me through, I would not be the same. I would know myself more deeply, but best of all, I would know Him in ways I never thought possible. I would know Him in ways that could never have been discovered apart from His joining me in my nightmare, and bringing beauty in the midst of it and out of it. 

None of this should ever surprise us. Jesus Christ came to rescue a human race lost in its sin. If Christ were like us, He would have demanded that God just make all the sin "go away," so that He would never need to suffer the agony of the cross and its death. But the Father didn't just want to save a lost race, He wanted a deep and rich relationship with us. One based on surrendered faith, trust, confession and repentance. He wanted us to be aware of our lostness, our need for a Savior, and the terrible consequences of our sin. His rescue plan for us was Christ and His cross. No other plan could have dealt with our sin problem. As Scripture says, He endured the cross for the glory set before Him. We must realize the glory we will see and bring to Him when we allow Him to take hold of us in our nightmares and step by step, lead us out of them. 

Maybe you're in the midst of your own nightmare right now. Maybe you're simply in a place you desperately want to escape. Maybe you've been praying that one way or another, He'll end it, and help you escape. Dare to look to Him there. Dare to trust Him there. Dare to lay hold of Him as He lays hold of you and allow Him to bring you out to the other side. To the other side where you will enter into a richness of life you never dreamed possible. Sheila Walsh knows something of that. So do I. So do countless others. You can as well. Yield to His rescue plan for you. You will never regret it, and like Walsh, like me, you'll thank Him that He didn't just snatch you away, making you miss all that you gained in the journey.

Blessings,
Pastor O