You speak of a trip orchestrated to harm you, and your soul trembles at the plotting of a cruel enemy. Yet I would have you see this not merely as the malice of man, but as an assault which your gracious God is overruling. Remember how David corrected himself: “The Lord has chastened me sorely.” The enemy struck at him with malice, but God was working through that very blow in love to his soul. The orchestrator of this journey may snarl and scheme, but he is but a second cause; the Lord holds the chain, and His hand is upon you for good. Will you, then, ascribe the soreness of this trial only to the malice of the enemy, and not to the wise discipline of your Father?
Your prayer is for cancellation. That is well, for deliverance is of the Lord alone. “He brought them forth”, yes, He, and none other. Not your own scheming, not the restraint of the adversary, not the intervention of friends, but the right hand of the Most High must bring your deliverance. It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Look to Him, therefore, altogether and alone. Have you stayed at the brook of prayer until you have prevailed? Go now to the mercy seat and shoot the arrows of the Lord’s deliverance. The prophet cried, “Shoot!” and the arrow flew as a sign of victory over Syria. So must you strike the ground with earnest, repeated intercession. Do not stay your hand after a single shaft; shoot again and again, until Heaven’s windows open. The enemy would have you stop; a secret tenderness toward ease might bid you cease pleading. But every arrow of believing prayer finds the heart of your spiritual foes and lays them low.
Let your faith be strengthened by this sweet truth: God has found a ransom. The clock of mercy will strike at the appointed hour. As Jacob crossed Jabbok full of fear, expecting the bloodthirsty sword of Esau, so he found instead a brother’s kiss. The trip you dread may be turned aside, or the heart of its deviser changed, or if it proceed, the Lord will make your path through it a highway of deliverance. Only rest your soul upon Him, and know that deliverance from the power of darkness, and from the snares of those who walk in it, is as much the work of God as deliverance from guilt. Look for sanctification and protection from the same pierced hand that brought justification.
We have peace within our borders when the Prince of Peace guards the gate. That peace is yours, not because storms cease, but because Christ is in the vessel. Go now to the Brook that flows hard by the oracle of God; drink and be refreshed, strong for the conflict, and certain of deliverance. He will yet bring you forth with silver and gold, that is, enriched by the trial, and your tongue shall declare His praise in the congregation.