Revelation 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
“What does God want to do in your situation right now?”
Insurmountable obstacles are everywhere. Not having enough money to replace the water heater, college tuition and expenses, taking a new church plant from a vision to reality, and a troubling medical diagnosis are just a few.
What does God want to do in your situation right now? How would things be different in your own personal life or in your ministry if you asked this question when faced with an insurmountable obstacle?
Over the summer I read a very old book on the life and work of Hans Egede, a missionary in Greenland in the 1700s. He had left a comfortable life in Norway and was developing a new mission post. A problem arose, however, when their supplies ran low and winter was just around the corner. It may be hard for us to imagine this today, but in the 1700s the only communication Greenland had with Norway was via ship. Talk about snail mail!
Hans Egede had a ship available to use in returning to Norway. The problem for them was deciding whether to stay or leave. To compound their problems, Hans Egede realized that among their low supplies was dwindling gun powder, and they had already encountered several large animals threatening their mission post. Staying put would mean certain death, extinguishing the mission work. Getting in the ship to return to Norway would mean abandoning the vision God laid on his heart.
What does God want to do in this situation? Sometimes we run into a situation where it would seem God’s commands in the Bible conflict because it is impossible to follow both. We may even feel we have to choose which one to follow because following both just isn’t possible. Other times we are faced with a situation that seems to go against God either way. This was Hans’ situation.
Hans’ wife, who was once skeptical of going to Greenland, encouraged him to trust the Lord and remain. Within a few weeks’ time and just before shipping lanes froze over, a ship arrived from Norway with fresh supplies and a promise to continue refreshing supplies.
We can look at Hans Egede and the people of Israel and see the miracle. Does God want to provide us with a miracle? Or does God want to put us in a pinch, so He can laugh at us or toy with us? What God wants to do is work in our hearts. He wants to address how we approach insurmountable obstacles. Sometimes we need to be stopped in our tracks for the Lord to have our attention. Of course, we can only give Him our attention if we bow the knee and invite Him into the situation.
What does God want to do in your situation? Here are some examples of what God might be wanting to do:
- strengthen your faith and trust in the Lord
- demonstrate to you how faithful and present He is
- fill you with a new sense of awe and reverence for Him
- prepare you for a task the Lord has in store for you but not yet revealed
- use your situation as an example and testimony for others
- call you into a deeper walk with Him – after all, this is the pathway to heaven
- focus your eyes on Him exclusively and forsake worldly cares to achieve a greater purpose He has for you
What might be missed if you charted your own course around the obstacle instead of waiting on God to get you through it or over it? You may miss out on growing your own faith or people may miss heaven because you were not ready to take the gospel to them.
One of the reasons it is important to ask what God wants to do in your situation is that ipoints our focus toward heaven. Am I willing to do whatever God asks of me, to wait on Him and to trust Him by faith to make it into heaven? Am I willing to endure hardship if it is preparing me for heaven? Am I willing to endure severe trials if it means others will hear the gospel and accept the heavenward path?
Whether we choose to wait on the Lord in our situation or choose to chart our own course around the obstacle before us could very well determine our seat in heaven, our future relationship with Christ, and whether others receive the gospel.
Is God using your current situation to prepare you for something else?
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