Devotions From the Heart: Deliverance is God's Business

by Pastor Derek Gitsham

"And it shall come to pass, that whosover
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be delivered." Joel 2:32

The promise of the Lord here in the book of
Joel is so emphatic and clear that to miss
His wonderful blessing is to miss out on life
itself.

Many of us find ourselves in troubles of one
kind or another, but the Lord does not even
get into that in this verse. Calling upon the
Lord is prayer. Prayer will be affective if
we pray with all our hearts. Casual praying
will never touch God, only effectual prayer,
even as James writes, “the effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

We must mean what we pray, our wills must be
in our prayers. Now there is something quite
wonderful in this statement in Joel that at
first glance might be missed. It is so important
a key that its power will never be lost once it
is found. Calling upon the Lord for deliverance
is important. Taking our troubles to God is about
leaving them there with Him. That is so important
that if we have really prayed and believed God has
heard them, the burden of trouble will be lifted
off of us. David says many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them
them out of them all. Our troubles are allowed
simply to remind us that God is always available.

The key to this wonderful verse is this - it is
the word "whosoever." God by His promise is saying
I will deliver you in the trouble. Taking the
trouble out of your life is one thing, taking
you out of the trouble is another. Your deliverance
will not necessarily come when the trouble is gone,
but when the trouble is still there and you are not!
Praise God, what a wonder He is! Let Him take us out
of the trouble first, then watch the trouble become
no more trouble.