God: Our Redeemer, Rescuer, and Resource

Psalm 34:4 “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”

by Vianne Satterfield

My husband, Rick, is a computer programmer and manager in the information technology field. When problems occur, he is called to participate with a group that determines the cause of the issue and find workable solutions. Sometimes he is the primary solution-giver due to his expertise or his management of a specific group. Problem solving is a big part of his job — no matter what time of day or night it is, when he gets “paged,” he has to respond quickly as people are waiting, and the problems often create great inconvenience to customers, and/or financial loss.

He told me of a time when he responded to the emergency call. As customary, he identified himself and waited several minutes while others gathered on the call. The person who asked specifically for Rick apparently did not understand that he had arrived and was ready to handle the problem. The person continued to say, “We need Rick.” My husband replied, “I am Rick; I’ve been here on the call for the past 20 minutes!” They had been waiting for someone whom they thought had the answer to the problem, and he was already there, waiting for them to tell him the problem.

It seems that we do this dance with God. We declare we need God, yet don’t realize He is with us already and waiting on us to engage with Him. Sometimes we are so focused on the problem or need that we cannot see the answer to our prayers.

As my husband recalled this to me, I heard the LORD speak to my spirit. I jotted it down in my journal in April and am now taking time to meditate on this word. Perhaps you need this truth and encouragement as you seek God for answers.

God is saying, “I am here! I never left you! You’re waiting for someone to save you. I am the One who rescues and saves. I sent my only Son to you. He is your REDEEMER, your RESCUER, your RESOURCE! Call out to Me and I will answer!”

There are numerous Scriptures that represent the truth of God as our redeemer, rescuer and resource. Here are a few to get your focus shifted to God’s truth and promises.

Psalm 106:10 “So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.”

Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

Psalm 144:2 “He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. . . “

Psalm 121:2 “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

We all have problems and need help from time to time. How thankful I am that God is ready and waiting to answer my call for help. How thankful I am that I can seek Him and open my Bible app or even Google Scriptures about God.

Let’s seek Him. Let’s trust Him as our redeemer, rescuer and resource. Let’s engage with Him as He is already there waiting for us to talk with Him today.

God’s Way is Better

Written by Vianne Satterfield

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalms 37:23

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

I give Chaz, my brown tabby cat, medication to treat hyperthyroidism. I ordered the medication before I ran out of it, as it would be sent from another state. I did not expect the process to take 7 weeks before I received the refill, as it normally takes about a week.

During this 7 week “trial,” I phoned the pharmacy and the veterinarian several times, and even got the help of a cat behaviorist to be my advocate to get the medication delivered to me. I tracked the package from the shipper’s website only to discover the package had been damaged and undelivered. (Big Sigh!) I had to begin the process again, and it was a very frustrating experience to say the least. There were communication break downs along the way and a case number was assigned along with specific names of people promising to deliver the product “quickly.”

No matter what I did or to whom I called to advocate for me and my cat, it didn’t seem to make a difference. I felt stuck, frustrated and helpless. This process took so much time and energy. I just wanted to take care of my cat and I sure didn’t understand why it was so hard to do that!

One day as I was thinking about this, I realized I had not actually prayed and asked for God’s help. I had phoned a friend, a veterinarian, a pharmacy. I called for help in seemingly all the right places, except I did not ask God to handle it for me.

HELLO! I am an intercessor, a prayer group facilitator, a devotional writer, and a child of the Most High God whom has access to the throne room of God and I did not pray?! (Sigh.)

I had relied upon myself, my own understanding and my way. God used this situation to teach me about taking authority in prayer and to lean on him rather than on my own way.

I immediately started thanking God for showing me that I had been given authority in Christ, and I began proclaiming God’s intervention for me in this situation. I declared God’s goodness; I worshiped and praised Him. The feelings of helplessness and frustration left, as I trusted God to handle it.

Within a few days after praising God, praying and taking authority over this situation, I received the medication for my cat. It took 6 1/2 weeks of frustration, helplessness and trying to do it my way only to remember that God cares about every detail of our lives — even the mundane things that do not seem to matter, but because we matter to Him, we can trust Him with everything, even the small things in life.

Have you experienced God’s attention to small details in your life? I would love to hear from you in the comments section or by contacting me at VianneSatterfield55@gmail.com.

Aroma of Victory

While walking at the mall, I smelled something sweet — I could not quite identify if it was cotton candy or cinnamon sugar, but, oh my, it really smelled wonderful. The pleasant scent caused me to search for the source of the aroma. My friend and I walked hurriedly throughout the multi-level mall, sniffing the air as we walked, searching the most obvious areas, the food court, pretzel store, and the perfume store, until finally we found the source of the smell! It was a small, hidden, flame-less, strawberry pound cake-scented candle that had been lit and placed outside the Bath and Body Works store.

We told the clerk we could smell the scent throughout the building! She said, “I guess it is doing it’s job then.”

This experience reminded me of the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15. The Passion Translation says, “God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph. Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God — a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.”

What kind of aroma does my life have as I go everywhere? Is it a sweet smelling perfume that pleases God and those around me? Do my actions, words and life cause others to want to know the source of the aroma? How well do I represent Christ, the One who is victorious? Is my testimony one of triumph and victory as I am lead by Christ?

These are questions that come to mind as I reflect on the above Scripture, and can be answered differently depending on the quality of a relationship with Christ. You see, when Christ is the center of my life — instead of myself being the center — then, I am willing to yield myself to Him and His ways, even when life is difficult or challenging.

When my life is yielded to Christ, my actions and words imitate Him and align with God’s Word, then the sweet aroma of time spent knowing and loving God, follows me everywhere.

My friend, Kent, is a great example of having the aroma of the victory of Christ. He loves and serves God even though he is suffering with stage 4 colon cancer and the many challenges the cancer has caused. Kent is living from a place of triumph and victory because of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ despite the pain and suffering. Kent is not defeated, hopeless or joyless. He is living above the circumstances in his life because of the work of Christ in his life. He is yielding his life to Christ day by day. Kent has a strawberry pound cake kind of testimony and he shares it everywhere he goes. I want my testimony to be one of victory and triumph as I trust and yield my life to Jesus, no matter what comes my way.

How about you? Is your testimony one of triumph and victory? How has your relationship with Christ affected how you handle adversity? I would love to hear from you. Share in the comments section or contact me at VianneSatterfield55@gmail.com.