Our Responsibility in Deliverance

“Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.” (Zec 2:7 AV)

 

To put this in context, Zechariah is writing to the Jews who would eventually return to Jerusalem.  Israel was sent to a pagan kingdom because they rejected God and His law in favor of the pagan gods around them.  The LORD sent them away as captives for over seventy years.  Babylon was the nation that conquered Judah and Benjamin.  A few decades earlier, the ten northern tribes were taken captive by Assyria who had fallen to Babylon.  Now, the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon.  Under their king, Cyrus, they were decreed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild both the temple and walls of that city.  Ezra and Nehemiah are two historical books detailing this project.  This decree opened the door for the return of the Jews to their land.  They were not forced to go.  They were allowed to go.  The choice to be delivered had to be their own.  The same was true of Israel when they left Egypt.  They had to choose to follow Moses.  They were not forced to.  In my reading this morning, I also read of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.  Jesus asked him an interesting question.  This man had come to the miracle waters of the pool for thirty-eight years.  Every day he sought out someone to put him in the waters so that he might be healed.  Jesus asked him, “Wilt though be made whole?”  In other words, even though you are there and you seem to indicate that you want to be healed, do you really want to be?

No one can force us to get well.  God won’t either.  If we are set by a besetting sin, our faith is weak, or we face other trials of life, the LORD is not going to force us to overcome something we do not wish to overcome.  The desire for deliverance has to be there to the point we are willing to participate in it.  This is a principle of life.  It starts at a very young age.  We learn to walk because our parents put us in situations where we learn to walk.  They do not do the walking for us.  At first, they may hold us up so that we might not fall.  They may hold us up so that we can figure out how our legs, feet, and toes are supposed to work.  Eventually, we have to make an effort in our own strength.  A parent might sit us down next to a coffee table or other prop.  We lift ourselves up and stand with the support of the prop.  With outstretched arms, they coax us to come.  Sometimes, they stand with extended arms just a few inches away.  Yet when we take those steps, they back up to maintain that same distance.  When we begin to fall, they stop and we regain our balance.  Soon, with their assistance, we learn to walk.  But they do not force us to.

God is not going to do everything for us.  Not when we have within ourselves the ability to participate.  He will not carry us everywhere we need to go.  There is a painting called Foot Prints in the Sand.  It is sweet.  It is encouraging.  Sometimes, it is true.  But not all the time.  If the truth is known, more times than not these footprints remain, side-by-side.  His hand may hold us up when we falter, but He expects us to walk under the power He has given.  If we are stuck in our situation, it is not because of God.  He has opened the door.  It is our responsibility to respond.  It is our duty to deliver ourselves.