The Roadblocks to Faith

I can’t tell you how overwhelming it is to go in and read the roadblocks to faith that people put on the walls.

For those who don’t know, last weekend at the end of the service we gave everyone a post it note with a picture of a roadblock on it and asked them to put their roadblock’s to faith on it and we would pray for them this week.

It’s been so powerful. The responses are so much deeper than I thought they would be. There is a lot of pain and fear on those walls. And they have all been prayed for, many times over. We’re leaving them up for this weekend so that you can know that if you put something up there – it is covered in prayer.

In my devotions this week, I was reminded of a verse that may help

Psalm 53:2-3 2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

Maybe you don’t understand, but even if you seek, God is looking down on you. God wants to help you.

I’m using this scripture about the Israelites this weekend – about their desert experience:

Deuteronomy 32:9-10 9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, 10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.

Whatever your blockage and whatever your desert, God is shielding and caring and guarding you.

Tim

Comments

[anonymous]

I do have a comment, I've been listening to your sermons and the most recent one on obedience from last Sunday. I think that too many people try and make things more difficult than they really are. I would venture to guess that probably close to 90% of our "christians" roadblocks are there because we put them there. God calls us to obedience, there is no watering down, no "prettying" it up, it is plain and simple; 2 Chronicles 7:14-If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. James 4:8-Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Also Psalms 66:18, Heb. 11:6, 1 Peter 3:7, John 9:31, Prov 28:9, and Isa 59:2.

Are there times when we suffer not as a result of our own self-seeking desires? Yes, but the reality is that most of the time it is our own sin born from our own selfish desires that keep us from having the best that God wants for us. If we are not in a right relationship with others, we are not in a right relationship with Him, and if we are not in a right relationship with Him, we cannot be in a right relationship with others. James 1:14-15 -But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Even Job was wise enough to examine his own heart, knowing that we must deal with any sin FIRST and foremost...and then go on from there.

Obedience is submission, that is not only God's will, but his blessing also. If we do not own up to any sin that might be "hindering" our prayers, God does not hear us, to say that that isn't true is a total contradiction to His word, which is His truth.

[ANONYMOUS]

As much as I believe in the comments that I made regarding obedience, I was convicted that there are some people struggling with these roadblocks who have searched their hearts and that unconfessed and continual sin is not the cause of whatever particular roadblock that may be in your way right now. And my heart is filled with incredible compassion for whatever you are facing. And, yes, it is for the same reason that I found it so necessary to comment on obedience, I am not better than any of you, but I have suffered much, and even though some of it has been at the hands of others, it has also been by my own hand as well. And God calls us to encourage one another in love with grace and truth. You cannot have grace without truth and you cannot have truth without grace. I want to make sure that whoever reads these comments knows that it is not to produce guilt, it is to call us to search our hearts for anything that could be hindering our relationship with Christ, first and foremost. Even though what Job endured was not a result of sin, the signifigance of him looking there first is so important. If once we do this, and we know that we are clean before Him, we do need to know that He is always with us, that He does care for us(more than we know), and will shield us. Even when we sin, we can be assured that He will never forsake us, even if we forsake Him. He will stop at nothing to reach us, but He will not hear us until we not only hear Him, but listen to Him first...

This may be hard to swallow, but what if God's purpose is not to make us "happy", but instead, that He wants to make us "holy"? How would that change your perception of your circumstances and how you responding to them right now? It's not so we can be miserable, no, it's so that "our joy may be full",Joy and happiness are not the same, happiness is simply emotion, joy goes beyond this, it is something we know and feel.

I want to say that right now I'm in the middle of one of the most difficult trials that I think and I may ever face, it has lasted for several months and yes, there were things that I did need to confess to the Lord, and I have, but the trial remains. I would be a liar if I didn't say that there are days that I don't feel like persevering, or continuing to do good, but I thank God that by His grace and His assurance that there is purpose in all of it, for His names sake and to reveal His glory, and praise God, for my own good and the good of those who I love. And so I continue.

Dearly loved brothers and sisters, I know whatever you may be going through is not easy, but please believe me when I say that it is necessary. What we do in crisis reveals our true character, we will either step backwards and stay immature regarding what God has purposed into our lives, or we will move forward into maturity, faith, and a closer proximity to Christ and holiness, which produces "peace that surpasses all understanding" and a joy that is truly full.

Fill yourselves daily with His word, wisdom from Godly brothers and sisters in Christ, and continual prayer.

I Peter 4:19-So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

1 Peter 5:6-11 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.