"And Deborah said unto Barak, 'Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand....'"
Judges 4: 14
King James Version
This Is Your Day"
"Nobody makes a greater mistake than (she) who does nothing because (she) could only do a little."
Edmund Burke
What is the 'Sisera' in my life that I need to be delivered from?
Today, do I hear God telling me, "__(Your Name)____, up! I have delivered 'Sisera' into your hands?"
"Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand."
Thomas Carlyle
"It's no good to sit up and take notice if we just keep on sitting."
Author Unknown
It was a beautiful morning. The sun had risen over Mount Tabor. Barak awoke wondering what the day would bring. He didn't have to wait long. Outside his tent, a strong voice echoed through the morning air, "Barak, up!"
I understand this command. It reminds me of my mom when my sister and I were growing up. She would come to our room at 6 a.m. with her cheery, "Rise and Shine!"
This is exactly what Barak was greeted with. "Get up Barak," Deborah unflinchingly called out. The dictionary tells us that the word "up" means, "coming from a lower to higher position." And this is exactly what Deborah was doing. She was calling Barak, and all the children of Israel to come from an earthly solution to their problems, to God's heavenly solution. From earth to heaven. From lower to higher.
But Deborah didn't just tell Barak to stand up and do nothing. The great American humorist Will Rogers correctly noted, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." I'll add, the same thing applies to just standing there!
Deborah didn't stop by saying, "Up!" She had an amazing proclamation, sent directly from heaven above to earth below. Here it is: "This is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand." It would do us well to take a look at the Hebrew word, "nawthan," which means "deliver." This word is used with great latitude and application but I'd like to offer several of the ways it is used which I believe apply directly to this text and what's more, to your life and mine today.
Delivered can mean to be "brought forth and healed." I love this! For if the "Sisera" in your life is illness, God can bring forth and deliver you today. And if the "Sisera" in your life is marital infidelity, God can bring forth and deliver you today.
But the word "deliver" in Hebrew also means, "direct." This to me is even more important than God taking away every illness or heartache or pain I have. Surrounded by the knowledge that my "deliverance" from the "Siseras" in my life is "directed" by God gives me total confidence to rely on Him; to wait upon Him; to listen to Him; and to follow when He says, "Get up and move."
Sometimes I'm afraid that when "Sisera" attacks me hard, with extreme pain in my crushed left leg and foot, I find myself saying, "Well, God taking down Sisera is something that happened years ago. This can't happen now."
But today I want to testify to you, our God is just as able this minute, to conquer 'Sisera,' whoever or whatever 'Sisera' is in our own lives, as He was in the time of Deborah.
The Apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 3:9 gives us these encouraging, faith-building words: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." (K.J.V.) This is how 2 Peter 3: 9 reads in the Amplified Bible, "The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness."
What this tells me is that if God promised Deborah, "Today I will deliver Sisera into your hands," He'll do the same thing for you and me, for our God doesn't change nor does He go back on His word.
Right now we are offering you a new book mark, "God's Promises for Times of Trouble." On the front of the book mark, written within the border of gorgeous colored sweet peas, are these words penned by one of my heroes, the great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor:
"There is a living God;
He has spoken in the Bible.
He says and will do
All He has promised."
Let's listen for Deborah's shout today and rise up for our God has delivered Sisera into our hands. He has promised. And our Father keeps His word.
"Lord, grant that the FIRE of my heart may melt the lead in my feet."
Author Unknown
"I am only one.
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything.
But still I can do something;
and because I cannot do
Everything I will not
refuse to do the something
that I can do."
Edward Everett Hale
Your friend,
Dorothy Valcàrcel, Author
When A Woman Meets Jesus
P.S. Just to let you know, Transformation Garden is now on FACEBOOK. Please come and see us and share the garden with your friends. The Daily Devotional is posted everyday, Monday through Friday on Facebook, too.
My book, When A Woman Meets Jesus, is available wherever books are sold and on the internet atwww.amazon.com, and www.Christianbook.com, or by calling toll-free, 1-800-Christian. You may also call Transformation Garden at 480-281-1508.
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