He Will Rescue!

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (2 Timothy 4:18 NIV)

How could Paul state with such clarity and definitiveness that The Lord would rescue him when he knew his life was in jeopardy at the hands of an evil ruler (Nero)?

First we have to understand what "rescue" means--to free or deliver from confinement or liberate. How does rescue take place? Sometimes, in a way that we would not normally see or define it, but we must remember that our ways are not God's ways, neither are our thoughts, His thoughts. So, when we define anything--it may not match God's definition. Was Paul rescued? Absolutely! He was liberated from his physical body to be with The Lord!

As hard as it is to accept--sometimes healing and deliverance are achieved through a person's physical death--when they are saved! I'm not saying this to be "hard-hearted" but to demonstrate that God's method of healing, deliverance and rescue or not necessarily the methods we would choose, but when we trust Him, we have to know--He knows best.

This is not to say that people who kill people deliberately are acting on God's behalf. They are fools and God will have the final word about them.

As it pertains to Paul--he understood that whatever a man sows, that only only can he reap. He understood that what he had done before belief, still had consequences and he knew without a doubt--that he would reap what he had sown. He understood that God's forgiveness does not negate the consequences of our actions.

What do the rest of us have to look forward to? The Lord will deliver us from every evil thought or plan devised by those who do not know Him! How He chooses to deliver us is up to Him, but do not doubt--that He will deliver us.

When we pray for someone to be healed or delivered from illness and disease, when or if they die--they are no longer suffering from whatever plagued them. Sometimes, we pray amiss for those we love. Rather than watch them suffer, we can pray that God delivers them from their illness and pain and release them in our hearts and God will receive them, healed and delivered! It's okay to mourn, but if someone you know has suffered any illness for a long time--rejoice in their rescue! Hallelujah!