My Dear Friend,

The Scriptures and life confirm that God loves last-minute deliverances! Time and again He faithfully delivers His own . . . but just barely! Biblical examples abound.

Joash

Jezebel's daughter, Athaliah, killed Judah's royal seed - her own grandchildren! - to make herself queen (2 Kings 11:1). Satan inspired this inhumanly brutal act hoping to render the Davidic prophecies - that David's sons would rule Israel forever - unfulfillable. But this was just the means to Satan's audacious end: rendering the coming of David's greatest "Son," Jesus, impossible! Shutting down Redemption! So, when Athaliah pompously sat herself down on Judah's throne, it appeared certain that David's sons would never sit themselves down on it again.

But God was still firmly seated on His throne! Inspired by His Spirit, Jehosheba, the granddaughter of Jehoshaphat intervened to save the one young noble Athaliah had overlooked, Joash. She then hid, nourished, and trained him in the temple chambers for six years until he could be proclaimed Judah's legitimate ruler. So, God providentially saved His great prophecy, David's youngest seed, and His greatest Seed, Christ! But just barely.

Peter

After wrongfully arresting the apostle Peter, Herod scheduled him for execution and held him under maximum security (Acts 12:1-4). Days past, each morning bringing Peter nearer a grisly end. Finally, his last night came. But, oddly, Peter slept soundly that evening, without a care in the world. Why?

Christ had declared Peter would live to an old age (John 21:18). Realizing he was still a young man, Peter trusted God to deliver him as the church prayed incessantly. It's also very likely he remembered his utterly faithful Savior had a long history of last-minute deliverances. Whatever Peter's meditations, his Messiah manifested. In the early morning hours, His angel miraculously released Peter from prison and sent him on his way to fulfill his predestined course of gospel ministry. So, the early church's first great leader was spared the great sword of execution. But just barely.

Moses

Though just a tiny baby, Moses' life was in huge danger. Mighty Pharaoh had decreed all Hebrew males must be slaughtered (Exodus 1:15-16)! But Almighty God had made His own decrees. It was already written in heaven that Moses would grow up to lead His people out of bondage.

Still very much in bondage, however, and unaware of God's preordained plan, Moses' mother, Jocabed, quickly devised her own plan to save her handsome son. Utterly relying on God's gracious care, she bravely placed Moses in an ark and abandoned him to God's guiding hand in the Nile's swift current. Perfectly timed and led by angels, Moses sailed right into the waiting arms of Pharaoh's unsuspecting daughter, who then raised Israel's prince in Egypt's palace - and paid Jocabed to nurse her own son! Again, God saved His own. But just barely.

David and His Men

After years of being chased by King Saul and his elite troops, David and his brave men suddenly found themselves surrounded in the wilderness of Ziph (1 Samuel 23:24-29). God had faithfully helped them stay hidden for a long time, but now, suddenly, it looked like the end. Yet as Saul's men were closing in, God was opening a way out. And a surprising one!

He prompted Israel's worst enemies, the Philistines, to invade Israel at this crucial moment, which forced King Saul to break off his fight with David to save his own nation from annihilation. Nothing short of this national crisis would have kept Saul from finishing David off. So, David breathed a sigh of relief, realizing God had again rescued him. But just barely.

The Human Race

Seeing only utter corruption everywhere He looked, God reluctantly scheduled the preflood world for punishment (Genesis 6). Tragically, the newly created human race was facing extinction. God regretted creating Adam, whose children were grossly immoral, murderously violent, incorrigibly evil-hearted, and happily content to live without God. So, deeply grieved, God decided to do away with the human race by a worldwide flood in 120 years.

The sacred text then states, almost as an afterthought, that God discovered one man, Noah, who "found grace" in His sight (Genesis 6:8). Quickly implementing His compassionate plan, God ordered Noah to build an ark so he and his family of eight would be saved. After seeing them through a long, dark, deadly, sunless year in the ark, God released them - the newly reborn human race - into the brilliant dawn of a new day and world, and blessed them: "Multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). So, human kind survived. But just barely.

The Apostle Paul

Imprisoned in Jerusalem without cause, the heavy-hearted apostle Paul received uplifting news straight from God: he was going to Rome to testify for Christ (Acts 23:11)! But, apparently, Paul's circumstances didn't hear this news. Immediately, the opposite of the vision began unfolding. Forty men swore to assassinate him. The Sanhedrin conspired with them. But God saw to it that the ranking Roman officer discovered the plot, who quickly transferred Paul to the provincial capital of Caesarea. Two years later, Festus' conspiracy with the Jews forced Paul to appeal to Caesar. Soon he was on a prisoner ship bound for Rome. Ah, now the sweet fulfillment of God's promise was in sight.

But not yet! A great storm enveloped Paul's ship, days passed without relief, and soon "all hope" of it being saved was "taken away." But the Promiser was still in charge and watching intently. He sent an angel to assure Paul he would be saved, Paul shared this with his shipmates, and soon they found themselves safe and sound on the island of Malta. Three months later, Paul arrived in Rome, as God promised. But just barely.

The Jewish People

In Persian exile, the Jews suddenly found themselves facing genocide authored by the king's despotic counsellor, Haman (Esther 3-6). Their extermination would also snuff out the coming Jewish Savior of the world. So, again, Redemption was at stake. Eager to be rid of the Jews' brave leader, Mordecai, whom he despised, Haman decided to ask King Xerxes to execute Mordecai right away.

But on the very night Haman made his move, God moved first. He gave Xerxes insomnia which, in a comic twist, turned Haman's plan on its head. The king unexpectedly decided to honor Mordecai, and ordered Haman to lead the festivities. The very next day, Xerxes' Jewish queen, Esther, exposed Haman as the mortal enemy of her people. Enraged, the king quickly did away with Haman. Mordecai and Esther then authored a legal decree overriding the Jews' pending execution order. Thus, God rescued the chosen race, their Redeemer, and the human race. But just barely.

Why Tell You This?

At this moment, you may be in dire need of help from our last-minute God. You may find yourself opposed, oppressed, and vexed by some relentless, ruthless Athaliah figure. Or pounded by a relentless storm of trouble that is preventing God's promise from being fulfilled. Or surrounded by unreasonable, ever-pursuing, "Saulish" enemies. Or bound tightly in a prison of hopeless circumstances with a looming deadline that threatens to be the death of all your hopes.

Why does God expose you to such pressurized situations, bitter enemies, and long tests of faith and patience with no visible ways of escape? He does so:

• To reveal the "dross" of your hidden sins and bad attitudes, which surface during prolonged intense tests; only then may you recognize them, confess them, and be purged (1 John 1:9).

• To exchange your strength for His - so that, when exhausted, you learn to receive fresh infusions of His inexhaustible strength by waiting upon Him in private fellowship morning by morning (Isaiah 40:31).

• To increase your spiritual endurance - or enduring faith - until you can remain calm in your fiery trials much longer than before, because your testing process is showing you, again and again, that God will never fail to faithfully give you an "escape" from every trial (1 Corinthians 10:13).

• To make you a firm spiritual rock, so others may draw confidence from your faith and stand firm in the Spirit when fierce winds of adversity are blowing against them relentlessly to make them fall.

• To delight God, who enjoys watching a great story! He loves suspenseful thrillers, in which evildoers and injustices initially succeed, leaving God's children seemingly hopeless. Then He suddenly intervenes, unravels their enemies' malevolent plots, and manifests His own benevolent plans. But just barely.

The biblical examples above confirm the only way for us to really know God will always deliver us is to periodically experience our own last-minute deliverances.

This vital spiritual education begins when we stop trying to deliver ourselves. And stop trusting wholly in human wisdom and ways. And get serious about the business of prayer - real, honest, humble prayer. And cast all our burdens of anxiety on God - without taking them back. And believe we receive the moment we pray. (See Mark 11:24-25; 1 John 5:14-15.) Then the last-minute God will deliver us every time.

Why not expect your own just-barely moment?

Expecting mine,

Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES