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roadblock
Publisher's DeskTeam Huddle
4 min.Read

3 Wise Things to Do at God-Ordained Roadblocks

Kim Brightness
By Kim Brightness

When God Sends a Roadblock

roadblockHave you ever been cruising on the highway – and then BAM! Out of nowhere, you hit a roadblock. Everything was smooth sailing, rocking to your favorite song. You were on schedule to reach your destination on time, now your GPS is covered in red flags. It’s a pain.

And, it’s no less frustrating in life when we’re trying to reach our goals, doing our best to live on purpose and we hit a roadblock while following the path God has set before us.

See, one of the most frustrating things about a roadblock that happens when you’re doing the right thing is – you’ve hit a roadblock while doing the right thing! It’s easier for us to understand a roadblock when we know we’ve veered off the right path.

But, how many of us are irritated right now because we’re obeying God’s word, doing what we’re supposed to do in the right spirit, and no matter how we try – that thing just won’t work?

God Set the Roadblock to Set You Up

road blockTake a deep breath, Teammates. I know that all you can see right now is confusion – how in the world could everything be going wrong, when you’re doing the right thing?

First thing, you have to realize how adept we are at over-dramatizing our circumstances. Sometimes, the roadblock we face is not the life or death, end-all event that we make it out to be. We’re just extremely irritated, and because of our heightened frustration, we’re not able to see the bigger picture – God is at work:

And We know That All things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

If we know that we’re on the right road, but we hit a roadblock, a deterrent, or a mountain that just won’t move – we also have to know that the roadblock is playing out for our good.

Set up for Success

That slow-down or complete stop is a pawn in the game orchestrated by God for our complete triumph (2 Corinthians 2:14). God has an eagle view of the entire process and the journey we’re on. We can trust that when and where God issues a STOP, His purpose is for our good, not to harm us, but to give us His expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). Here’s what I’ve learned:

 

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How Do We Respond to God’s Roadblocks?

If you find yourself at a God-ordained roadblock, do the following as you trust God’s plan and His guidance.

1. Rest

Teammates, stop all of your efforts. Cease from your labor of trying to push, move, adjust, or manipulate the roadblock. Identify God at work and lay aside all of the resistance to the call to stop. You may not understand it, but this is a call for you to relax and remain calm. Be a wise steward over your energy; know when to fight and when to rest.

2. Surrender

Now, you may think that in your rest from all action against the roadblock that you’ve surrendered. That’s not always the case. While we may rest from pushing against the roadblock, our minds are still trying to grapple with how to maneuver around it. Surrender begins in the mind. Stop trying to calculate in your head how to jump over the roadblock, climb the roadblock, or find a detour around the roadblock. Wave your white flag and surrender.

3. Worship

Now that you’ve slowed to a stop, use this time to worship God and give thanks in advance of the final outcome. It’s ok, tell God that you don’t fully understand what’s going on – but that you honor Him as the Most High God, you give Him glory and praise for being a provider, protector, a way maker…

As you rest, surrender, and worship the Lord, He will reveal His divine goodness and you’ll develop a deeper trust in God and a heart of gratitude as His blessings surrounding the situation unfold.

So, What’s the Play Call?

I get it, Teammates. If God has given us the power to move mountains and cast them into the sea (Matthew 21:21), we have a hard time when God simply says, “Stop… Don’t go this way anymore… the journey is over… the task is complete.”

We’re not called to fight every perceived battle we come up against. Sometimes, God wants us to watch Him at work, to remind us of His sovereign power and how much He loves us and has our backs.

So, discern God’s roadblocks and be of good cheer because you know the ending will be triumphant – even if you don’t lift a finger.

Love y’all!

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They Changed Their Minds about Slavery and Left a Bible Record

0
Two businessmen’s unusual conversion in 1700s South Carolina led them to liberate the people they put in bondage. At first glance, William Turpin and his business partner, Thomas Wadsworth, appeared to be like most other prestigious and powerful white men in late 18th-century South Carolina. They were successful Charleston merchants, had business interests across the state, got involved in state politics, and enslaved numerous human beings. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary. But, quietly, these two men changed their minds about slavery. They became committed abolitionists and worked to free dozens of enslaved people across South Carolina. When most wealthy, white Carolinians were increasingly committed to slavery and defending it as a Christian institution, Turpin and Wadsworth were compelled by their convictions to break the shackles they had placed on dozens of men and women. In an era when the Bible was edited so that enslaved people wouldn’t get the idea that God cared about their freedom, Turpin left a secret record of emancipation in a copy of the Scriptures, which is now in the South Carolina State Museum. Perhaps it’s not surprising that this story of faith and freedom is mostly unknown. The two men were, after all, working not to attract attention. Neither had deep roots in Charleston or close familial ties to its storied white “planter” dynasties. Turpin’s family was originally from Rhode Island, and Wadsworth was a native of Massachusetts who moved to South Carolina only shortly after the American Revolution. Both had public careers and served in the South Carolina Legislature, but their political profiles were not particularly high. Neither of them appeared to give any of their legislative colleagues the sense that they were developing strong, countercultural opinions on one of the most ...Continue reading...

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