Getting through it

Have you ever noticed that God never made a habit of removing an obstacle in scripture? There always seemed to be an “it” in the way for the children of God. “It” would be Philistines, sometimes seas and rivers, other times deserts and approaching enemy. Notice he never made the great “it” go away. He would, however, give them strength and guidance through it. When snakes were biting and killing them, he didn’t remove the serpents; he rather lifted a sign of restoration in the air to heal them as they looked upon it. When they hungered, he gave them manna, but they had to harvest it daily. When they were thirsty, he sweetened the water he led them to. They even faced the enemy of time in the wilderness, and God still didn’t remove the desert or the 40 years, he simply made sure their clothing and shoes didn’t wear out as they navigated through it.

Then, as we were introduced to New Testament characters, we find in Acts chapter 9 that Paul wasn’t removed from the power and call of God; he had to go through it with blind will and faith in order to see who he really was and who God was about to be in him. Later, Paul found himself in prison, in Acts chapter 16. They were placed there for casting an evil spirit out of a young girl. Beaten and locked down in prison for doing good work for the Lord - go figure? But notice again, God didn’t remove the jail or the jailer. Instead, he opened the doors at the midnight hour, while Paul and Silas worshipped. He opened all doors and unshackled all prisoners. The event was so powerful that the jailer repented. The prison was still the prison even when everyone left. God just empowered them to go through it instead of trying to escape. A significant factor in the prison break was that God shook what enslaved them and opened locked doors at midnight. At midnight is when the old day ends and the new begins. Like Paul and Silas, when we go through what wants to break us with an attitude of worship, then the new day doesn’t start with enslavement, it starts with freedom despite our surroundings.

Notice, if Paul had led a revolt and done it the way of the flesh. Prisoners would have rallied, and, more than likely, the jailer would have been overpowered and killed. But God did it his way, and everyone was freed, including spiritual freedom for the jailer and his family. Jail, desert, Pharisees, or Philistines - they all possess a great “it,” and God doesn’t remove the “its” in our lives; he leads us right through. Your “it” is maybe around the corner or all up in your face right now. Either way, God has a path of victory that you probably can’t see right now. Hang on, follow God, trust his plan, and you’ll get through it.

We’re Christpoint Church, on Liberty Square, in Sparta. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. Welcome home.