Photo by Mohamed Nohasi on Unsplash
Have you ever faced an impossible situation with no idea where to start, much less how to get out of it?
Of course, you have; it’s called life, and everyone deals with it.
The beautiful life of a Christ-follower is a decision to have a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (the triune Godhead).
I began this study by asking if you have ever been in an impossible situation.
But what if the impossible situation of your own doing, someone’s doing, or because you decided to follow Christ?
These are perhaps the most difficult challenges to trusting God to care for them.
The Old Testament prophet Zechariah offers hope in these challenging times.
“This is God’s Message to Zerubbabel: ‘You can’t force these things. They only come about through my Spirit,’ says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Zechariah 4:6 The Message
The answer comes from trusting God, but the question becomes, how do I trust God when it’s my fault?
Christian recording artist Don Moen published a song called God Will Make a Way many years ago.
The opening lines go something like this.
God will make a way when there seems to be no way.
He works in ways we cannot see.
He will make a way for me.
It is in such difficult times that Christ followers will experience God’s provision by choosing (an act of your will) to trust God.
As Moen’s song says, he (God) is working in ways you cannot see.
But how do I know God works in ways I cannot see?
You know by reading (and believing) stories from the Bible.
You get a sense of God at work when the disciples are in an impossible situation: they are in a boat in a violent storm, and Jesus walks on the water, calms the storm, and saves their lives.
You begin to understand that God is working in ways you cannot see when Jesus tells his disciples to feed around 10,000 people with a lunch of a few loaves of bread and a few small fish.
The 10,000 are fed and full by the time the meal is complete.
You see God making way for Peter, who is in stocks in jail between two guards, when the angel wakes him up and walks him out of jail into the city’s main street.
Another way to know that God is working on your behalf is by listening to stories from those in your community.
For example, you believe when you hear how three Bible College students took a truck to pick up a broken-down car, prayed over it once they arrived, and drove it back to the college.
You believe when you and your wife return from a walk on the beach to find someone has taken your shoes, only to find them in the parking lot.
Stories like these assist you in your journey to trusting God to make a way.
Some biblical references
Your impossible situation is:
Of your own doing
David, Israel’s second king, knew something about trusting God to get him out of impossible situations.
In Psalms 25:1-8 from The Message Bible, he says,
“My head is high, God, held high;
I’m looking to you, God; No hangdog skulking for me.
I’ve thrown in my lot with you; You won’t embarrass me, will you? Or let my enemies get the best of me? Don’t embarrass any of us Who went out on a limb for you. It’s the traitors who should be humiliated.
Show me how you work, God; School me in your ways.
Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren’t you?
Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God; Rebuild the ancient landmarks!
Forget that I sowed wild oats; Mark me with your sign of love. Plan only the best for me, God!
God is fair and just; He corrects the misdirected, Sends them in the right direction.”
The Apostle Peter knew something about getting into trouble and seeing Jesus help him in an impossible situation.
After Peter willingly denied Jesus on the eve of the crucifixion, he was utterly devastated. When some of the women who walked with Jesus went to his tomb and found him alive, he gave these instructions:
“Now – on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter [emphasis added] that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.”
It makes sense that Peter would shine here because he learned how to trust God in impossible situations.
In I Peter 5:7, he writes:
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Of someone else’s doing
The Old Testament story of Job is powerful about impossible situations that were not your doing.
The man went from hero to zero overnight. His wife’s counsel was to curse God and die.
However, Job 42:12 tells a story of God working in a way that Job could not see.
“God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters.”
The words of the Apostle Peter come to life here. Using another translation, The Message, for I Peter 5:7, he says,
“Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.”
Of your decision to follow Christ
The Apostle Paul may have been in more impossible situations than any of Jesus’ followers.
Upon becoming a Christ follower, God the Holy Spirit gave the prophet these words for Paul.
“And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for – the hard suffering that goes with this job.”
Acts 9:16 The Message
In one of his impossible situations, because he decided to follow Christ, Paul and his companion, Silas, were in stocks in jail after being beaten.
“Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears.
Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway,
when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”
Acts 16:25-28 The Message
How deep do you want to go?
The Old Testament book of Genesis offers a fantastic story about trusting God.
In Genesis 5:21-24 (four verses), you will read a story about Enoch.
“When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he had Methuselah.
Enoch walked steadily with God. After he had Methuselah, he lived another 300 years, having more sons and daughters.
Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him.”
One of my Bible College professors told the story this way.
The day was getting late, and Enoch said, “I suppose I should be heading home,” the Lord replied, “We are closer to my house than yours. Why not just come home with me?”
The News Testament book of Hebrews tells the story this way.
“By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.”
Hebrews 11:25 The Message
Trusting God enables you to please him.
What a powerful story.
Why I use the phrase Christ-follower
In the eleventh chapter of the New Testament book of Acts, it says that Christ followers were called Christians. This title was given to them because of their commitment to following Christ’s teachings.
Today Christian is more associated with a religious preference rather than a commitment to follow Christ.
For this reason, I use the phrase Christ-follower—because it denotes a commitment to follow him.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that, as you know, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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