Standing at our back door looking out on the beautiful backyard we have, my husband and I were drinking our first hot cup of coffee and noticed movement in the back yard. We noticed it was a fawn that must have gotten separated from its family. It was frantically pacing back and forth seemingly hesitant about jumping and looking for a way to cross over the fence. This little one paced from one end of the yard to the next. As it went up into the trees, I said, ‘no, you can’t cross there, you will get caught in the thickets’. It came back to pacing and went right by a safe place to cross. After a while it seemed to notice the same safe place to jump that I saw. I said ‘yes, right there, jump, that’s the perfect place’. It looked as if he was going to jump, but he hesitated, but he backed up and went for it and successfully bounded over the fence into the next field.

Later on in the day, I briefly thought about this moment. How many times have we been in a place where it seems we have either been separated from our family or we are lost because of getting distracted, perhaps it is that we are frantically looking for a way out of our circumstances? We have all been in those times at some point, but when we are in the middle of it, how do we respond? Is our response to panic and be pacing back and forth with worry and fret and totally miss the ‘way of escape’?

Fear, fret, worry, stress, anxiety, anxiousness, impatience are all emotions we have experienced at some of our most difficult times. When these come there is a decision that has to be made. More often than not, it’s our own crazy decisions that separated us anyway and we get so wrapped up in our circumstance that we cannot see. Our fears keep us in a place of pacing back and forth looking for the answer…am I in the will of God…I need money to pay my bills…my kids are going down the wrong path…I’m a failure as a parent…I have this disease…I need a job…I need food on the table…etc. These are just examples of some of the fears that we all wrestle with at some point and time in our walk of life. Are we going to let these emotions become so overwhelming that we cannot see our way of escape?

I don’t know if you have ever heard the story about the flood that came and this man’s house began to flood. He cried out to God to rescue him. A friend came by in a truck and told him to get in. The man said, ‘no, God is going to rescue me’. Then the water kept rising, he moved to the second level of his house. A boat came by and called out for him to get in the boat. The man said, ‘no, God is going to rescue me’. Eventually he ended up on the roof of his house and a helicopter flew overhead and lowered the rescue basket for him to climb into. He said, ‘it’s ok…God is going to rescue me’. Well, eventually the man drowned and went to heaven. The man asked God, ‘why didn’t you rescue me’? God replied, ‘I sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter and you turned them all away’.

God always provides a way of escape for us. His way of escape is not always the way we as humans would think of it as being. His way of escape opens up to us as a result of us letting go of our fears, stress, anxiety etc. and embracing His peace, hope, grace and mercy. His rescue to us might look like: someone taking your kids for the afternoon to give you some breathing room, or it might be someone offering to pay your electric bill. Perhaps it is getting that prophetic word that will bring hope to your world. How about a new drug invention that would heal the disease you might have. God will always provide a way of escape!

In the Psalms David cried out to God endlessly to be rescued from his enemies. I personally believe David believed lies sometimes that kept him in a place of always needing rescued. There are numerous scriptures that declare God is our way of escape. He is a…tower of refuge, a present help in time of trouble, a source of strength, a provider, a healer, and so much more. What is He to you? What lie are you believing that is keeping you where you are? What fear is it that keeps you from seeing the open place to jump the fence and come back into the place you belong?

Just remember…God, most of the time, uses people and tools around you to rescue you from your circumstances. Our expectation of what our rescue should look like will result in us having all kinds of rescue opportunities come our way, but we miss them all because we have in our minds what it’s going to look like.

If you are in one of these times, I encourage you to not be afraid, put hope and trust in God! He IS your rescue, but it might be through a friend, or a prophetic word or a person you don’t even know. God loves to work in mysterious ways!

~ Veronica ~