Psalm 140:1-2
Rescue me from cruel and violent enemies, LORD! They think up evil plans and always cause trouble.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
In William P. Young’s book, The Shack, he tells the story of a four-year-old girl named Missy who was abducted by a serial killer who preyed on young girls. He abused them physically and sexually, then killed them… always leaving behind a painted ladybug as his “signature.” The father of the little girl in the story is given a chance to visit with three characters who represent God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Like any normal human being, he cannot wrap his brain around how horrific this experience must have been for his precious child. And he cannot fathom how God could allow such cruelty and violence – especially toward such an innocent little girl.
What the man discovers is that God was always with the little girl. He never left her, even in the depths of the brutality committed against her. God shielded her from much of the evil and pain. He shifted her focus onto Him, and He lifted her to heaven and wiped away every memory of the indignities committed against her.
There are several important messages presented in The Shack. One is that God can rescue us from the most insipid cruelty and violence. He may not accomplish this in the way we envision, but He will do it just the same. In other words, He did not stop what happened to this little girl from taking place… but He rescued her from it by holding her hand and leading her to the eternal safety of Paradise. As my grandmother would say, “There are worse things than dying.” Sometimes our healing and rescue comes in the form of death and a home with Jesus.
There is another message that I got from this book… there comes a point when you have done all you can do – and now it’s time to let go and let God. We spend an awful lot of time trying to fix things ourselves… to fight God’s battles for Him…and this never works. I told someone recently that I am really bad about giving my burdens and problems to God… but then I pick them back up again. It’s as if I want to say, “Yeah, but did You think of this? Did You remember that? And what about such-and such?” And this is not truly letting go and letting God have control.
We will never understand why bad things happen… why people have to suffer… why our plans don’t always work out like we hoped, even when we think we’ve done everything right. This passage speaks the truth… there are evil, cruel people who are busy 24/7 thinking up plans to cause trouble. The devil never sleeps! But God doesn’t either! He will rescue us.
When we have done all we can do and we finally turn to God and say, “I need your help,” He will say, “I’ve been here all along.” Truly, God is often just waiting for us to ask Him to take over. He is waiting for us to realize that we are out of our league. Are you recognizing God’s presence in your life today? Have you asked Him to rescue you from violent and cruel enemies? Isn’t this a good time to do “let go and let God?"
©2011 Debbie Robus
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