If I’m honest about it, some situations that I have been in have sent me looking for an exit. If I’m absolutely honest, there are many situations, I could’ve easily avoided if I were a bit more humble and obedient.

But then, there are many times that I prayed for an out, an escape, a deliverance from, only to find myself at an incredible impasse.  The LORD works in mysterious ways!

My experience has taught me that prayers for deliverance are not always answered the way we want them to be.   Sometimes deliverance comes through trials and struggles and not from them!  

When Jesus prayed his high-priestly prayer for His disciples – us – He prayed not for their/our escape from the world but for our endurance – not for our way out but our way through!   Get it?

How so? I’m glad you asked.

Jesus had the authority to ask for anything and expect an answer.  But, at His departure, His prayer was not to take us out of the world but to keep us from being overcome by evil – not an escape from the world but for the ability to endure and overcome the world through faith and by grace! 

In a word, Jesus prayed to the Father to keep us from evil, and then promised us His own Spirit as our Helper, our Comforter, and yes, our Keeper!  

In a strange and mysterious way the LORD works, His wonders to perform!  We are not always delivered from, but we are delivered through!  We do not escape every trial, but we faithfully endure.  God is our Keeper!

But don’t take my word for it!  Jesus prayed:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 

John 17:15

Be encouraged, family.  While escape is not always the answer, we receive the gift of the Spirit that equips and enables us to endure faithfully! God is our keeper! This is our testimony…

“Oh, to be kept by Jesus! Lord at Thy feet I fall; I would be “nothing, nothing, nothing; Thou shalt be all in all.”

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs,

just adam