The 40 Day Journey - Day 2 (God Rescues)

"Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; 
I will set him securely on high, because  he has known My name.  
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; 
I will rescue him, and honor him.  
With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation."        
                                                                      Psalm 91:14-16

Thursday mornings are one of my favorites.  A few of us gather to pray for our elementary school kids. Each week we focus on an attribute of God to pray over our kids and the staff.  Today's attribute was "God Rescues" (One who saves or delivers).  We each take a turn reading a scripture that relates to the attribute.

Often times the verses from our prayer time end up speaking to me throughout the day. Today was no different. Today I had to wrestle through it though.  I spent my hour with God meditating on this passage.  As I read Psalm 91, I could not stop thinking about those 21 precious Egyptian men, that loved Jesus and were beheaded last weekend.  Why didn't God rescue them?
 
How do I reconcile the fact that His Word says He rescues, yet these beloved men were held captive and then murdered in a foreign country.  I don't take this lightly, my heart genuinely breaks and wonders, how can these two truths fit together?

Focus on the Family was able to report some facts about these men.  The following is from their website:

• These young Christians were in their early to mid-20's. They went to Libya in search of work to help feed their families living under the poverty line in Egypt.
• In the days and weeks leading up to their deaths, their ISIS captors tortured them and attempted to persuade them to deny Jesus in return for living.
• They all refused to deny Christ.
• They all died on that beach singing songs to Jesus.

(Read the full article here: Focus on the Family Article)

I realized I was looking at these men in their orange jump suits waiting to be executed through my own eyes and not the Lord's. I found it ironic that these captors were offering "life" to these men if they denied Christ.  What the captors did not understand was that by claiming Christ these believers are now more alive than ever.  

God in His tenderness revealed to me that these very verses that I thought were a contradiction to these deaths were actually fulfilled in the most beautiful way. "Because they loved Jesus..." God was with them!  We see the images on the news, each face. What we don't see is Jesus, but He was there.

God did deliver them, He heard them, He answered, He rescued them and brought them home, and now He honors them.

The article I mentioned above made note that these men  were not mere victims, but that they are more than conquerors whose ultimate sacrifice is a powerful testimony to their faith in Jesus. (Romans 8:37)

So often my sight is limited by the boundaries I want to put on God.  I am one-dimensional in my view of the world. His ways are always higher and multi-dimensional.  I am pretty sure we will never know all ways this event will bring glory to God.  We won't see the lives that will be changed because of this moment in history when the enemy thought he had the victory.

If you are struggling with understanding a truth of scripture with an event in your own life, wrestle through it.  Ask God to show you how the two fit together.  I think He really likes it when we come to Him with our questions and doubts.  And He will answer...His Word says so.