God will make a way...

God is at work in each of our lives to perform the miraculous. He delights in those things that seem impossible to our human reasoning. Our God is greater than anyone, any power in heaven or on earth. He rules over his creation and does as he pleases. (Psalms 115:3)

3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.

If God’s greatest desire is to receive glory and if only redeemed people can bring glory to his name then we can be assured that he will make a way for the gospel message to be proclaimed in all the earth. (Is. 49:3)

3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

God is at work in each of our lives to provide opportunities to share his message. He leads us by his Holy Spirit to people and places that we will be his witnesses. If we believe that this is his greatest desire then we can walk by faith knowing that he will use us to fulfill the desire of his heart. His heart is to reach the world with the message of salvation which is the message of his intense love for humanity and his desire to reconcile man to himself.

Last night we showed, “the Cross and the Switchblade” at the homeless center in Antigua. It is an older movie but the message is as powerful today as when it was released. David Wilkerson was led of the Holy Spirit to reach out to the gangs in NYC. He was unrelenting in his pursuit to reach Nicky Cruz the leader of the Mau Mau gang. He constantly shared the message of God’s love for him. Though Nicky resisted this message and even tried to have David murdered, David never quit declaring the message of God’s love. God made a way for David to reach out to Nicky and David persisted and pursued him. Eventually Nicky could not resist the love of God and he surrendered his life to him. We serve a God who pursues people, he continues to reach out to them and he uses you and I to be the instruments to be his expression of love through the gospel message we proclaim and through the works he gives us to do to demonstrate his love. At the end of the movie we had 3 men come forward to receive Christ. The other men who did not come forward are still the object of God’s love. He will continue to pursue them until one day they give into his love and surrender their lives to him or go to their grave having rejected him.

Romans 5:8 ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

God’s love for fallen humanity has not changed and it never will.

One day his wrath will be poured out upon those who have constantly rejected his love but we are living in a time of grace in which God is withholding his judgment and wrath against sin. We do not know how much longer this period of his grace will be extended and we have to take advantage of this time to share his message.

God will make a way for the message to be declared and at times it will require us to go through difficult situations and face tremendous opposition. There is a demonically inspired hatred for Christ and the gospel message. The demonic forces are constantly at work to stop the gospel from being proclaimed. They know the power of the message, they tremble at the name of Jesus. They know their fate and their goal is to take as many captives as they can. The opposition that we face should confirm to us how important this message is and how urgently we need to announce it. Paul understood opposition; he faced it almost all of the time. But he knew that its source was in the heavenly realm and not in flesh and blood. Principalities and powers in the heavenly realm were the real opposition. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

I find it interesting that we do not see the same hatred and persecution toward Christianity as we do toward other religions. Why isn’t Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism or Shintoism as opposed as Christianity? I think we all recognize that satan has captivated millions to false religions and he has no need to stir up hatred against them as he has them where he wants them. They are carrying out his plan to deceive the world.

Yet in spite of the hatred and opposition God makes a way for people to hear the message. I was listening to a message of a lady who was a missionary to a remote village in Zambia, Africa. She told of one of the men, Joel, who received Christ and felt called to preach the gospel to a community in Mozambique. He left the missionaries he was working with and was gone for 3 months. The community he went to resisted the message and the local witch doctor was angry and stirred up the people against him. They placed him in a dungeon, like a hole in the ground. There was one hatch they opened and once a day gave him a bowl of slop to eat. The dungeon was full of rats and they ate his flesh. They chained him to the floor to keep him from escaping. The chains caused infection in his legs. He had no idea of time because there was no light. He began to sing and pray and shout the name Jesus so his jailers could hear. He believed that God would set him free. One day a stranger came, opened the hatch and pulled him out of the dungeon. He handed him a beautiful suit and gave him a train ticket to go back to Rhodesia to the missionaries. He instructed him to go back to his missionaries because there were many people there who wanted to hear the gospel message and were ready to receive Christ. The man reached down to touch the sores on the back of his legs form the chains and he suddenly realized the chains were gone and when he looked up the man was gone. He returned and preached the gospel and many souls were saved. God knows the hearts of people and I believe he will guide us to places where people are ready to receive. It does not mean that he bypasses those who resist and oppose because he wants them to have the opportunity to hear the message. They will be held accountable for their decisions and will be without excuse. When one door closes God will open another. This is the testimony we see in the life of Paul who was chased out of several cities by the opposition, yet God opened a new door of opportunity to preach the gospel. God will lead us and when it is time to leave he will direct our steps. Some will die as martyrs for Christ but their blood and testimony will cry out to the people and be a witness to them. Their lives will be given for the gospel, not taken by the enemy.

Throughout the Bible we read of testimonies how God has worked in the hearts of people who were in opposition to him and his people. Those in positions of authority can be touched by God to bring about a change of heart and plans.

Proverbs 21.1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

When we read the story of Esther (Esther 6:1-10) we see this scripture become a reality when the King Ahasuerus was unable to sleep and decided to read a history book perhaps that would put him to sleep. I know some nights when I am having a hard time getting back to sleep I listen to a podcast of a preacher who puts me to sleep pretty fast. Actually he is very good, just has a monotone voice that puts me to sleep. After reading about Mordecai’s heroic effort to save the King he wanted to reward him and as a result it led to the salvation of the Jews from Haman’s demonic desire to destroy them.

God can make a way when there seems to be no way. He delights in the impossible and we can be assured that he is working on our behalf to open doors for us to get his message to the lost. We can have faith that God will go before us and he will be with us when we step out in obedience to his calling.

Ron Carlson headed a ministry organization that shared the gospel message and taught believers in many countries that were closed to the gospel. I personally knew him as I taught both of his sons when I worked in a Christian school in Minnesota. Ron was a man of faith and went to China and other countries where you could not meet in public to teach the believers and train pastors. Ron died of a heart attack recently at the age of 60 but his books and testimonies of God’s intervention in his life still speak today. Ron was one of the few people who were given permission to go to Cuba to minister to pastors and preach the gospel. I want to play a video of his testimony of how God made a way for him to get a book he had written into the hands of the 250 pastors who he would be ministering to on his trip. http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-tube/video.php?videoid=4448

God is working with us to open doors that seem closed. His love for people compels him to respond in supernatural ways to get his message to them. When we walk in obedience to God’s call we can expect him to be working in advance preparing the way, giving us favor to be able to accomplish his plans. It does not matter how difficult the situation may seem, God is greater.

What impossible situation are you facing tonight? What do you need God to do for you tonight? Are there people who are opposing you? Do you need him to move on the hearts of people to open a door for you? Are you challenged financially? Are you seeking direction and guidance and you really need to hear from God?

Romans 8: 31-32 assures us of God’s desire to stand with us and provide whatever we need.

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?

We can go forward in boldness and great expectation that God's favor will go before us and he will make a way for us to accomplish the desires of his heart to reach lost humanity. If God is for us who can stand against us?