Roadblocks
Read Acts 16:6-15.
Here in Terre Haute, we have trains. When we were preparing to move here, and someone mentioned trains blocking the road, I sort of laughed. "Oh, well, I've been dealing with trains blocking the roads in Portage for ten years now." And while that was true, the trains in Portage have NOTHING on the trains in Terre Haute. My very first Sunday, only knowing one route from my home to the church, I found a train parked on the tracks between me and my goal. Great—first Sunday and I was going to be late! My most recent experience: returning exhausted from a conference and coming home about 11:00 p.m. only to find a train parked on the tracks between our group and my car. These roadblocks get in the way so often that the experience has its own name: being railroaded.
Of course, there are roadblocks other than trains that get in the way of us getting to our destinations. Sometimes those roadblocks are circumstances. Sometimes they are road construction. Sometimes roadblocks come in the form of bad choices we or others have made. And sometimes roadblocks come in the form of our own pride. Whenever a roadblock shows up in our lives (whether physical or relational), it's important for us to take a moment not just to figure out the way around but also to figure out where the roadblock came from. Sometimes knowing the source will help us find the way around it.
But sometimes, according to Luke in Acts, the roadblocks come directly from God himself. Twice in this passage, we are told that Paul intended to preach in a certain place, but Jesus or the Holy Spirit stopped him from doing so. Some folks would go ahead with their own agenda anyway, push through any roadblock, but there is a great sensitivity in Paul that allows him to know what the Spirit is saying and to respond to it. Do we have that same sensitivity? Do we take every course of action before the throne, not asking for blessing but asking for guidance? Or do we simply rely on our own wits and thoughts? I am guilty often of the latter, to be perfectly honest, but seeking to be more in the camp of the former.
If God is trying to block me from something, there is a good reason, whether I understand it or not. I doubt Paul always understood it. I imagine some prayers going up that said, "What are you doing, Lord? I could preach there!" And Jesus, perhaps responded, "Yes, you could, and you could reach some people, but I need you over here. Someone else will reach those folks." Do I have the level of trust and sensitivity to respond in the way Paul did?
Roadblocks are frustrating, but sometimes (perhaps just as often) they are a blessing. The key is to know where they came from and how God is calling us to respond to them.
Ah, the train is finally moving. Now I can move on with my day...after a time of prayer...
Here in Terre Haute, we have trains. When we were preparing to move here, and someone mentioned trains blocking the road, I sort of laughed. "Oh, well, I've been dealing with trains blocking the roads in Portage for ten years now." And while that was true, the trains in Portage have NOTHING on the trains in Terre Haute. My very first Sunday, only knowing one route from my home to the church, I found a train parked on the tracks between me and my goal. Great—first Sunday and I was going to be late! My most recent experience: returning exhausted from a conference and coming home about 11:00 p.m. only to find a train parked on the tracks between our group and my car. These roadblocks get in the way so often that the experience has its own name: being railroaded.
Of course, there are roadblocks other than trains that get in the way of us getting to our destinations. Sometimes those roadblocks are circumstances. Sometimes they are road construction. Sometimes roadblocks come in the form of bad choices we or others have made. And sometimes roadblocks come in the form of our own pride. Whenever a roadblock shows up in our lives (whether physical or relational), it's important for us to take a moment not just to figure out the way around but also to figure out where the roadblock came from. Sometimes knowing the source will help us find the way around it.
But sometimes, according to Luke in Acts, the roadblocks come directly from God himself. Twice in this passage, we are told that Paul intended to preach in a certain place, but Jesus or the Holy Spirit stopped him from doing so. Some folks would go ahead with their own agenda anyway, push through any roadblock, but there is a great sensitivity in Paul that allows him to know what the Spirit is saying and to respond to it. Do we have that same sensitivity? Do we take every course of action before the throne, not asking for blessing but asking for guidance? Or do we simply rely on our own wits and thoughts? I am guilty often of the latter, to be perfectly honest, but seeking to be more in the camp of the former.
If God is trying to block me from something, there is a good reason, whether I understand it or not. I doubt Paul always understood it. I imagine some prayers going up that said, "What are you doing, Lord? I could preach there!" And Jesus, perhaps responded, "Yes, you could, and you could reach some people, but I need you over here. Someone else will reach those folks." Do I have the level of trust and sensitivity to respond in the way Paul did?
Roadblocks are frustrating, but sometimes (perhaps just as often) they are a blessing. The key is to know where they came from and how God is calling us to respond to them.
Ah, the train is finally moving. Now I can move on with my day...after a time of prayer...
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