Devotions

Early in His ministry, Jesus announced this about Himself: “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds” (John 7:37, NLT, my emphasis). Jesus didn’t just issue a statement — He shouted. And He waited until the biggest day of the festival to stand up and make His announcement: “[He] shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart”’” (7:37-38).

This was much more than a theological statement; it was an act of compassion. Dead religion had beaten down God’s people. It should have refreshed them, but it left them with no life whatsoever. Now Jesus announced, “I am your cup of cold water, the refreshing spring that never stops flowing. You can drink from Me to find your life renewed continually.”

There are no qualifications needed to drink from this amazing wellspring. Christ assures us, “Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink!” (7:38).

When Jesus says that “rivers of living water will flow from his heart,” He is showing us what our lives will look like with a simple touch from Him. This is the touch that refreshes like nothing else, renewing with power from heaven the most stunted, despairing, dreary soul. His Spirit so fills us that we overflow with abundant life, grace, mercy and love.

Yes, my friend, His flow of life transforms everything!

Let’s talk about bondage to sin — that is, your battle with the flesh. Under the New Covenant, God allows situations to enter your life to show your helplessness and total dependence on Him to deliver you through faith. God never leads us into temptation but He allows us to come to our wits’ end at times.

If you have a besetting sin, lying spirits come against you continually with demonic lies: “You’re not going to make it. You’re going down! You will end up destroyed.” You wonder, “Lord, how will I ever get up from this? I’ve gone down so low!”

You know you can’t outrun the enemy and you are no match for him in a fight. So you stand before him, cowering, trembling, terrified. Perhaps you run to friends or counselors, anyone who will listen as you weep and pray. You are doing everything except being still and trusting the Lord to bring deliverance.

The Old Testament gives us example after example of how we have no power in our flesh to fight spiritual battles. Our old man is utterly weak and powerless, but we have a new man inside us and he is to submit his life totally into the Lord’s hands. This new man understands there is no human way out and God must do all the fighting for him. We resist the devil by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is revealed in us by faith alone.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you” (Isaiah 41:10). 

Are you facing a severe crisis right now? You may ask, “What am I supposed to do when I’m brought into such a desperate situation? What should I do when everything appears hopeless — when there is no place to turn and no visible escape? What happens when I’m overcome with fear because everything is coming down all around me and I have no answers for my problems, no one to tell me how to get out of my trouble?”

Our Lord is not a hard taskmaster and when He sees us in a frightening, difficult situation, He longs to hear us cry out to Him. He is pleased with a prayer such as, “Lord, I’m afraid! You have always been faithful to deliver me and I know You have the power to deliver me now. Father, I commit my life into Your hands.”

Here is how God answered Israel when they faced a major crisis: “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. . . . The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:13-14).

The Lord was saying to them, “The first matter you must deal with is your fear! I will fight for you and I will save and deliver you. Now, I want you to let that promise be your strength. Let it drive out all your fear!”

And He is saying the same to you today. 

We read in Exodus 14 that God told the children of Israel to camp “before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea” (14:2). This location was situated between two mountain passes with the sea bordering a third side. The only possible route of escape was back into the wilderness — and that was blocked by Pharaoh’s approaching army.

The Israelites were horrified at their situation and were equally horrified that God Himself had led them there! There were so many ways God could have rescued His people. He could have prearranged to knock the wheels off the Egyptians’ chariots, stranding them in the wilderness and starving them to death.

Or He could have sent the supernatural cloud down upon the Egyptians’ camp to confuse them, causing the soldiers to run around in chaos and disorder for days. But, instead, He chose to send the cloud behind the Israelites as protection.

Or He could have sent a single angel to slay the entire Egyptian army in the blink of an eye. God could have chosen many ways to destroy them at any point.

However, the Lord chose not to take such actions. Instead, He saw fit to squeeze Israel into a tight, alarming situation that was impossible to escape by human means. How do we know God arranged this frightful situation to test His people? His own Word says so: “You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep [My] commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

The Lord leads His children into difficult situations in order to provide an opportunity for them to put their lives into His hands — to stand still and trust Him to give deliverance and direction. 

In times of crisis we want to take action and fix the situation. It is against our nature to stand still and wait; in fact, waiting patiently for God to act is probably the most difficult thing about the Christian walk. Even devoted believers sometimes panic when the Lord doesn’t act quickly, and they often desperately cry out, “Lord, do something!”

God is searching for a people who will trust Him in every crisis, trial and hopeless situation. Indeed, as hard as it is to fathom, God often leads us into situations that are alarming and difficult in order to test us. He wants to see if we are willing to stand still and wait for Him to bring supernatural deliverance. He is producing good fruit in us and molding us into examples of faith to be His testimony to a faithless, ungodly age.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23). Ordered means “prearranged, fixed, ordained by God.” This means that it is God, not the devil, who leads us into difficult places. Not only does He allow our trial, but He does so deliberately — and that is hard for us to accept!

I don’t believe God would ever lead us to the brink of a difficult situation and then abandon us. He is absolutely faithful to His children in every crisis. His intervention may not be according to our schedule but He always acts and it is our duty and privilege to stand still and trust Him to see us through to victory.