MORNING MANNA 2-28-22
OBSTACLE OR OPPORTUNITY?
But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.– Philippians 1:12-1
Maybe you’ve heard the old story about the shoe salesman who was sent to a new territory. After just a week on the job, he quit in disgust. “No one here wears shoes. There’s no market,” he wrote in his resignation letter. After his replacement had been on the job for a week, he also wrote a letter to headquarters. “Send more shoes and more salesmen. No one here wears shoes, and we can corner the market!”
All of us have things happen in our lives that may not be part of what we had planned. There are obstacles and hardships and difficulties that we face. The difference between people who move forward and accomplish things and those who sink into defeat is not whether or not they have trouble. All of us have trouble because that is part of living in a fallen world. The difference is in how we view and respond to those things. We must never forget that God is able to use even the things that are meant against us for His purpose and for our good.
Paul endured a great deal more than most of us ever will, but he viewed everything that happened in his life through the lens of God’s plan. When some people were tempted to think that the hardships Paul faced were evidence that he was doing something wrong, he reminded them that all of the things he endured were being used by God to take the gospel to new places—even inside Caesar’s own house. If we view opposition as an opportunity rather than an obstacle, we will not yield to the temptation to give up when the going gets tough. We need to be aware all the time that God is using our circumstances for His purposes. (Daily in the Word)
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
