April 6, 2021: Delivered Again

“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” (Ps. 91:14, NKJV).

There is certainly safety when we abide in the presence of God. Psalm 91 speaks of His protective love, and, for me, verse 14 encapsulates the promises of the chapter.

Many, many times I’ve seen God fulfill this promise of deliverance, lifting me up high—far from the grasp of the enemy’s reach.

Even though it ranks as one of the more mundane instances of God’s heavenly protection, the time when I saw His deliverance exhibited most clearly was on a trip I took during my time in the seminary.

My two daughters, Michaela and Emily, and I were journeying from Andrews University in Michigan to Las Vegas for a summer visit with family. Eighteen-hundred miles were to be clicked off on my SUV’s odometer.

With the Great Plains in the rearview mirror, the towering Rocky Mountains filled the windshield. Up I-70 we pushed, crossing the Continental Divide and descending the Colorado Western Slope and forging across Utah, finally arriving on the north side of Las Vegas.

There on I-15, just past the Spaghetti Bowl, the engine lost power and a clanking noise erupted from the engine. With only miles to go, the piston rod broke. Limping into my parents’ driveway, I thought about what a different story I would be telling if God had allowed the rod to come off anywhere else along the way. Instead, He had delivered me once again.

Father, I love You because I never need to worry about Your protection over my life. Amen.

Michael Stough II is the pastor of the Delaware, New Carlisle and Springfield First churches in Ohio.

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