“And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.’” Acts 23:28
When it comes right down to it, most of the hardships we experience in this life, aren’t just bad luck or poor timing. Most of the hardships we encounter were engineered to take us out of the game. Case in point – Paul’s imprisonments were attempts by the enemy to take him off the streets and out of the public squares to shut him up. When he and Silas were thrown into jail in Philippi in Acts 16, they decided to stay open to the Lord. They began to praise Him anyway, and God brought an earthquake that hit that prison and opened every door! Paul knew that no matter what the devil tried to do to shut him up, it only served to provide another opportunity for God to do what He does best – bring the POWER!!
Staying open to the Lord isn’t just being open minded about doctrine, theology or loving people. It’s being available to Him and to have no agenda but to go where He leads, speak what He teaches us to speak, do what He instructs us, and love people the way He loves them. In other words, allow Him to be the Lord of our lives!
The easiest way to stay open to the Lord is to give the reins of your life to Him. That requires us to walk away from our ideas of what life is about. It also requires learning the Truth from the Author of Life and come to know what it really is! That is when hardships become opportunities, failures turn to triumphs, broken dreams become masterpieces of His design, and worldly sorrows are transformed into unspeakable joy and a full, rich life this world knows nothing about!
Staying open to Him is the doorway into the most heart-fulfilling life available to mankind!
With Love,
Pastor Tom