The Great I Am, who is with us, is our deliverer. When we call upon our God, He works in ways we can’t even fathom. He works in ways that we may not even understand, but ways that are ultimately perfect according to His purpose and will alone. He sees our needs, He hears our cries, and He is always present to provide strength when we are weak and in distress. We need to remember that His desire is to save us. With His salvation comes redemption and deliverance.
What is Terror
We already know the wonderful truth that God, the Great I Am, is our deliverer. But, we also need to recognize what it is that God is delivering us from.
Terror comes from our sinful flesh. We may have heard about it before from our Sunday school classes or sermons from past years. But have we thought much about it lately? Have we even considered terror as a consequence of our own sins?
Terror also comes when we stand in front of God. It can be overwhelming to think about the powerful nature of God in its entirety. It leaves us trembling. Another source of terror is when we wonder “Am I good enough?” When we choose our own ways, when we try to do everything for ourselves, or when we justify our place before God.
Terror can cause us to be far from God. It is something that we need to defend ourselves against by fully relying on Christ. When we look at Acts 7, the Jewish leaders were terrified that their ways will be destroyed by God’s teaching through Stephen and the prophets before him. And so they tried to silence Stephen because they were filled with terror. We see that terror only has one option and it is to silence all the voices around it, including God.
Remain Calm and Trust Jesus
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! Luke 1:47
Amidst all the harsh effects of terror, we can rest in the truth that there is a Savior who died on the cross to wash away the consequences of our sins. It is our Savior who will deliver us from our own terror.
Stephen is a classic example of a person who was fully embraced by God’s saving grace. Even as he was dying, being stoned to death, he remained calm and was full of the Lord’s Spirit. Because he knew that at this moment, the presence of Jesus is in him.
In Acts 6:15, we can even notice that everyone in the high council was looking at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel’s. This is the calming effect of God’s saving grace in the midst of trembling situations. Do we still wonder how we get deliverance? Jesus our Savior. He is our deliverer. He has already rescued us.
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
