Burdened Beyond Measure

"[God] delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).

Paul is speaking here of God’s delivering power — past, present and future! He is saying, “God has delivered us in the past, he is delivering us now, and he will deliver us in every future trouble and trial. We do not have to fear anything that comes our way because we know God is going to deliver us!”

That is a powerful declaration but many of us forget the past deliverances of our Lord, just as the children of Israel did. Oh, the deliverances God gave them! Leading them with a cloud by day and fire by night; dividing the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry land; giving them manna out of heaven and streams of water out of the rock. (Read these accounts in Exodus 13:21; 14:21-22; 16:31; Psalm 78:16.)  But still they tempted God and spoke against him.

Sadly, that often happens with us. We say, “Well, I was in a tight spot and God delivered me. But this is different.”

Our loving Father wants us to come to a place in our faith where we trust him in every crisis, every temptation, without question. He wants us to never again doubt his power to deliver us.

Don’t misunderstand me. We still have to fight the good fight of faith. The Lord has a way of allowing us to be “burdened beyond measure” at times, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:8. This means he was tried beyond his own strength and could no longer trust in himself. So he turned to God! 

Sometimes we have to admit we are in over our head and get on our knees before the Lord! I encourage you to cry out to the Lord today and trust him. He is faithful to deliver you.