TAKE HEART: Take a Breath (Week 5)
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TAKE A CHANCE
Acts 16: 6-10 [NLT]: Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. 8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. 9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
But vs. 6- 7 reveal something interesting: God’s limitations on their progress. “… because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching… again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.” (excerpted from Acts 16:6-7)
What do we do with divine limitations? And if we feel stuck, how do we again take a chance on God and keep going, unsure of the next limitation?
1) Protection
Numbers 22:28-32 [NLT]: 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. 29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” 30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. 32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. 33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”
2) People
We don’t know people’s winding journey leading our lives to intersect.
3) Formation
They had to keep taking chances on God’s faithfulness. To keep taking breaths and keep taking steps forward—to keep searching for the good that is to come.
Isaiah 46:4 [NIV]: Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
I Thessalonians 2:18 [NIV]: For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
Psalm 37:3 [NKJV]: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
