I don’t know about you, but I confess Psalm 91 for daily protection. But for some reason, verse 15 has always bothered me. It says, ‘…I will be with him in trouble.’ I thought that by confessing it, I would be agreeing to it and thus, giving it place in my life. But then God quickened the next portion of the verse, ‘…I will deliver and honor him.’ He let me know that as long as we are on earth, the enemy will always try to bring tests, trials, tribulations, and trouble. But when he does, God will deliver us. Immediately. Our part is to simply cooperate and yield to the delivery. So what do I mean by that?
Recalibrating Deliverance
In Acts 12:7, we find Peter in prison and ‘an angel of the Lord…[striking him] on [his] side’ attempting to wake him up. What if Peter would have excused or ignored the angel when he was trying to get his attention? Verse 8 says, ‘…Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”. What if Peter said, ‘No! I don’t need any shoes.’ Or what if he would have just stood there in disbelief; thinking that the angel was from the devil? He would have remained in prison, thinking it was God’s will; all the while, missing his time of deliverance. Fortunately, ‘…he did’ what he was told, so the angel gave him another instruction, “Put on your garment’. Here was yet another opportunity for him to say, ‘No. I don’t need it.’ And when the angel told him to ‘follow me’, he could have responded, ‘No. Let’s go this way. I know a shortcut.’ If Peter would have done, what most of us would do, he would have gotten caught trying to do his own thing and going the way he thought was quicker. And this is a prime example of how we miss God.
We refuse His instruction, alter the plan, and recalibrate His direction. Peter’s deliverance was predicated by following simple instructions. Get up, get dressed, and follow. Period. Fortunately, he did but he ‘…did not know that what was [being] done by the angel was real.’ We need to understand that sometimes God’s instructions don’t seem real; in that, they don’t make sense or they seem as if they won’t work. Because sometimes they’ll lead us into impossible looking situations. While following the Lord’s instructions, the angel led them to where they had to pass ‘…the first and the second guard posts.’ What if Peter would have been too afraid to go pass the guards? Like Peter, we must do what God directs, even when it seems like someone is guarding or trying to block us from doing it. Because when we do, we will come to our ‘…iron gate.’

Led to Our Iron Gates
After getting up, getting dressed, following the angel, and making it past the guards, they came to an iron gate. This gate represents a place of impossibility. This is the place we all must go through, but yet this is where so many get stuck. And the reason they do, is because the gate appears to be locked. You won’t have the credentials, education, tenure, or money to do what God has called you to do, and because you don’t, you think you’ve come to an impasse. But because you followed the Lord’s instruction to the T, notice what happened when Peter and the angel got to the gate. When they, ‘came to the iron gate….[it] opened to them of its own accord.’ Which means they didn’t need anyone to unlock it and neither did they need a key. The iron gate opened by itself because Peter had done all he needed to do and so should you.
When following the direction of the Lord, don’t refuse, alter or recalibrate the plan. Don’t be fearful and don’t be moved when you face your iron gate. The lock on the gate was placed there by the enemy because he wants you to think that you can’t get passed it. But you will. But when you get there, just look at the lock and remember that this is the gate that ‘leads to the city’; to the place you need to be. This is the gate that leads to open doors, access, opportunities, and platforms that God has called you to. So don’t be moved by trouble. Because not only will God deliver, but He will honor you as well.
‘Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’Psalm 91:14-16
Copyright 2017 © Real Issues Ministries®. All rights reserved.
Comments